Second Chances
by CrazilyInLove
Summary: Bella and Jacob are as happy as they could be. On one movie date, the happy couple run into none other than the unwelcome Edward Cullen! But does Bella's heart disagree? Is it willing to give him a second chance? Who will be chosen in the end?
1. I Gotta Feeling

**This is my first FanFiction! I did edit, but if I still have any mistakes, please feel free to let me know. Thank you for reading :)**

**By the way, I own nothing except the plot****. Everything else belongs to one of the greatest fiction-authors of all time: Stephenie Meyer!**

* * *

A rough but warm hand caressing my face stirred me from my sleep. A pair of deep brown eyes stared into my chocolate brown ones.

"Good morning," I sighed.

"It sure is, since I'm waking up next to you," he smiled, just as happy as I was at this utterly peaceful moment.

I sat up slowly. "What do we have planned for today? Cliff-diving? Motorcycles?" I asked, smiling.

His beautiful eyebrows scrunched up for one tenths of a second as he considered that. He smiled widely.

"How aout we go on a normal date today? Let's go see a movie. The last time we did that was with Quil and Embry, and it wasn't even good. We can watch that new movie that came out last week. What was it called?"

I thought for a second, trying to remember the title I had seen over and over on the ads at Port Angeles two days ago. I hadn't really paid any attention to them at the time because I had been too busy trying to find the shop that sold dresses. I had promised my Jacob that I would go to the spring dance with him.

"Wasn't it called _Second Chances_?" I said, remembering at last.

"Oh, yeah. I heard that it was the best romance movie of the year. So, are you up for it?" he asked, smiling.

"Sure," I said as I got up from the bed. "I can't see how even I can ruin _this_ date. I mean, I probably won't crack my head on the popcorn stand or anything. Oh, but do _not_ let me get up during the movie. I'll probably topple off the stairs in the dark."

I was remembering the motorcycle dates and cliff-diving dates that I had ruined. My sweet Jacob always planned a whole day for us, but I could only stay healthy for about a half of it. I usually ended up in the ER. He always told me that he didn't mind, but for once, I wanted to have a normal date I couldn't involve the ER with.

I reached out a hand to help Jacob off the bed. He pretended to take it and get up, but pulled me down on the bed alongside him in one quick second. He pushed me onto my side, facing him, and tried to kiss me on my lips. I turned away in the last second. He stared at me. confused and hurt.

"I have the morning breath," I explained quickly.

He smiled and held my face in his hands securely, ignoring my protests. "So do I," he whispered, roughly pushed his lips onto mine.

I couldn't protest anymore. It was impossible to protest. Unlike the kisses with my first love, for whom I had almost no feelings for anymore, the kisses with Jacob could last longer. He didn't stop me, and I didn't stop him.

No matter how much we wanted to, we couldn't stay on my bed, kissing, forever. We eventually broke apart, gasping for air. We laughed quietly, trying to muffle our laughter so Charlie, who was just in the other room, wouldn't hear.

"I should go," Jacob said, getting up. He walked to my window and opened it. "I'll be here by ten. I need to check with Sam and then get cleaned up."

I pouted.

He laughed quietly. He pulled me up to his side in an instant and stroked my cheeks. "I'll be here in two hours. Is that too bad?"

I nodded. "I don't ever want to be away from you. It hurts."

Pain flitted across his face. "You know I'll never leave you. Never."

"I didn't mean it like that. I know that you won't leave me like that. I just meant I'll miss you no matter how short you'll be gone," I said, stroking his hair.

"I don't get why you love me. Someone like you deserve to love someone normal, not a monster," he murmured sadly.

I pulled away from his stroking and placed my hands on my hips. I glared up at him, straining my neck. "Jacob Black, don't you even start. Someone like me needs someone like you to protect me. If it weren't for you, I would have been tortured to death by Victoria," I shuddered at the name. "And don't even get me started on how much you helped me when _he_ left. Don't even think such things. _Please_," I pleaded the last part, wounding my arms around him in the tightest hug I could manage.

He hugged me back tightly for a moment. I could feel the warmth radiating off his skin. He pulled back to look at my face. "If you put it that way, if kind of makes sense why you love me. You just need a protector. If Quil were available, would you take him?"

"Well . . . he _is_ very attractive," I teased.

"My, my, Claire's got competition. You'd better be careful, Bella. Claire has got very good aim for a two-year-old. She might attack you with her Barbies when she finds out you're trying to steal her _Quilly_," he said, playing along.

"Fine, you win. You'd better leave and come back soon, Mr. Black, or I'm seriously going to consider Quil," I said, trying to shove him out the window.

He took my face in his warm hands again. "I love you, Bella, more than anything else in this world."

"I love you, too. Come back soon," I whispered.

"As soon as I possibly can," he whispered, kissed me goodbye, and left.

* * *

Charlie woke up a few minutes after Jacob's departure to go afternoon fishing with Harry. He told me to invite Jacob over so I wouldn't be lonely. He always felt bad for leaving me alone during the weekends no matter how often I told him I was fine. I assured him that I would, and he left.

* * *

Later, as I was cleaning up my messy room, I had a feeling that today would be a very interesting day. This got me looking forward to my date even more because my "feelings" were usually very accurate.

* * *

**How was that? PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS! I DON'T CARE HOW SHORT THEY ARE! Thank you.**


	2. Nightmares

**Sorry for the long wait! I've been SUPER-DUPER busy lately, so I didn't have any free time to upload. I will dedicate this chapter to MissColly because she has been waiting so patiently. All of you, especially Renesmee fans, should go read her stories! Well, I'll shut up now so you can read!**

**One last thing (sorry). Everything, except the plot of this story, belongs to Stephenie Meyer!**

* * *

I was running as fast as I could, but it wasn't fast enough.

"No! Stop!" I yelled, and the two angry figures ahead of me turned their heads in my direction.

They were beside me in an instant, as if they had teleported. Why couldn't _I_ do that?

"Bella," they chorused as they grabbed my hands. They glared at each other.

"Back off of her," they said together again. If this situation was less serious, I would have laughed at them.

But laughing felt like the last thing I would do right now.

Growls erupted from both sides of me, causing me to flinch.

"Get away from here, Bella," they ordered in unison.

"No. You both have to stop! _Please_," I begged, tears streaming down my cheeks.

I don't know how, but I was suddenly twenty feet from the two angry figures.

You got your wish, I thought sourly.

Ahead of me, I saw the two figures approach each other. A huge russet brown wolf burst out of Jacob as Edward lunged at him.

I screamed.

* * *

"Bella?" I heard an anxious voice call.

I opened my eyes, still terrified of the nightmare that I still remembered clearly. It had felt so real. I tried to shake the picture of Edward lunging at Jacob away, but it didn't work; I could still see it as clear as day.

"Bella, honey? What's wrong?" Jacob's husky voice was slightly hysterical now. He shook my body gently, trying to force the words out of me.

"I . . ." I had no idea what to say. "It's not real, it's not real," I chanted, putting my face in my hands.

"What's not real? Bella, what's wrong?" Jacob gently pried my fingers away from my face with his warm hands. My eyes were suddenly staring into his brown ones.

"I had a nightmare. Oh, Jacob, it was terrible!" I sobbed into his chest.

Jacob didn't speak for a moment. He just pulled me onto his lap and rubbed my back soothingly.

After who knows how long, my sobs began to slow. In a few minutes, the last sobs subsided, and I pulled away.

"Would you like to talk about it?" he asked, anxious and a little curious.

I shook my head. It would not help the matter at all to recall the terrible nightmare. Anyways, I wouldn't be able to tell him anything even if I wanted to. It wouldn't be the smartest choice . He would be upset that my dreams included Edward, though he would try not to show it.

He shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "Okay, then. Do you still want to go to the movies later, or would you rather stay home?"

"I want to go!" I wasn't letting a stupid dream ruin our plans. Especially not when I approved of the plans so whole-heartedly. "What time is it?"

He glanced at the watch he so rarely wore, but must have put on for our date. He was also wearing some clothes, finally. "Two."

I leaned away from him in shock. "Two?" I asked, incredulous, as I pulled his wrist to my face. I was even more shocked to find that he wasn't kidding. I must have fallen asleep while I was taking a break from cleaning my room.

"Don't apologize. I just got here. I didn't wait long," he assured me just as I was about to apologize.

I frowned. "Why did you take so long?"

He avoided my eyes and mumbled something I couldn't understand.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"There's a new vampire around. We didn't expect any more to come here after we finished the red-head, but apparently, we were wrong. It was close to Forks so we tried to track it, but the scent was too faint to follow. I left Seth to guard you, but I came back when he told me that you were getting restless," he explained with more clarity.

I froze. "Why was the scent so faint?"

"It hasn't hunted in a while, and it's weak. That makes its scent weaker, too," he said.

"If there's a new vampire around, you'll be gone at nights," I mumbled, looking down.

"No," he said, and I looked up. "I talked to Sam about it, and he told me that I could guard you instead of Seth. Unlike last time, Seth is more skilled. He can take over my place, and I can spend nights with you."

"Oh. That's great. But is it okay to go to the movies?" I asked, disappointed. I had been looking forward to more enthusiasm than before because I needed something to distract me.

"Yeah. I can protect you well enough from this one because it's so weak. We can go," he assured me, though I felt anything but assured right now. The thought of my Jacob within even a ten mile radius of a vampire, no matter how weak it might be, was painful. But I really needed that distraction, so I decided to be selfish.

"I want to go," I whispered, guilt eating at me. Jacob read it easily.

"Don't be guilty. We won't be in any danger. Besides, I would have dragged you there even if you said you didn't want to go," he smiled and pulled me off the bed. "I'll be waiting downstairs."

I decided to pick something casual, yet cute to wear. My fashion senses had improved greatly ever since I had started dating Jacob. I knew that Alice would be proud of me.

After a short shower, I put my clothes on. I had picked a pink shirt with a short, white cardigan, short jean skirts, light brown boots, hoop earrings, a heart necklace I had gotten from Jacob on Christmas, and a pink purse. I applied basic makeup, checked my reflection in the mirror, and headed downstairs.

Jacob was sitting at Charlie's kitchen chair when I came down. He was thinking deeply, and didn't even notice me. I kissed his neck from behind, and he jumped off the chair. His arms wrapped around me, and he kissed my lips.

We broke apart after a few minutes, gasping.

"Ready to go?" he asked, grinning.

"Yes. Which car?" I asked, though I already knew the answer. Jacob always took the Rabbit when we went out. He always said something about "speed" when I inquired why we couldn't take the truck.

"The Rabbit," he answered. I loved how he never said "yours" or "mine." To him, everything he owned was mine, too. Even his car, which he valued more than anything else he owned, was open to sharing. Of course, I felt the same way about everything I owned, too.

He opened the door for me, and got in the driver's side when I was comfortably seated.

We took off without any idea what an interesting day today would be.

* * *

**How was that? Did you like it? Please, please, please review! I need criticism and compliments to get better. I'm sorry for the length of this chapter. I'll try to make the next one longer. Thank you for reading!**


	3. Movienight

**Oh my gosh! I'm so happy right now! I found some spare time, so I decided to go check my e-mail for Fanfiction alerts. And guess what I found? Two new reviews! This may not seem like such a big deal, but I am really a beginner. I was so happy after getting my first review from MissColly. These two little guys made my day. So you know what? I need to post another chapter!**

**Before I go on, though, I want to list all the people that make me want to continue this story. First, the three people who left reviews: MissColly, sydnybowen013, and -X-Jake's-Girl-X. Next, the three people who added my story to their "Favorite Stories" list: spiritgirl101, crazyreaderduh, and sydneybowen103. Last, but certainly not least, the people who added my story to their "Story Alert" list: crazyreaderduh, wolfgurl23, jacob black rulez, and Brittany009.**

**If any of these people would like to have their names removed from the list, please just send me a message. I'll have your name removed as soon as possible without any hurt feelings. If you want your name ADDED to this list which I will post before every chapter from now until there are too many people, just review or add me to one of your lists (Favorite Stories, Favorite Authors, or Story Alerts)!**

**I will shut up now so you can read . . . but one more thing. EVERYTHING IN THIS STORY, EXCEPT THE PLOT, BELONGS TO STEPHENIE MEYER. PLEASE DON'T SUE ME :D**

* * *

When I first moved to Washington, I saw Port Angeles as a small town compared to what I had seen in Phoenix. After living in Forks for a few years, however, Port Angeles finally seemed like a small city.

Jacob touched my cheek, snapping me out of my thoughts. I leaned into his touch, sighing contently.

"You were thinking hard. What about?" Jacob inquired as he slid easily into the narrow parking space and cut the engine.

"Random things," I answered, getting out of the car.

He pulled me back when I was halfway out and yanked me gently back to my seat. I could see his eyebrows scrunching up as he read my expression. I smiled at how adorable he looked.

"Don't even _try_ to lie to me, young lady. I know it was more than just 'random things,'" he said.

I sighed, giving up. "I was thinking about Arizona, then my thoughts shifted to my mom. I miss her, that's all."

"I miss mine, too," he said softly, his eyes looking at something far away.

I froze in horror at what I had said. What I had done. "Oh, Jacob, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to . . ."

He looked at me. "It's okay," he murmured.

I put my face in my hands. "I'm so selfish, wretched, mean-"

My words were cut off when Jacob lifted my face from my hands and forced me to look at him. "Don't you ever say that, Bella. You are not any of those things. You are absolutely perfect. Too perfect," he chuckled. "I have to be on guard to make sure some guy isn't taking you away from me. It's only natural that you miss your mom. It's okay."

"Okay," I smiled and leaned in to kissed his lips briefly. "What did I ever do to deserve someone like you?"

"Hey, you stole my words right out of my mouth," he protested. "Let's go."

We got out of the car and walked to the theatre, hand-in-hand.

When we got to the theatre, we found out that we were twenty minutes early. We just bought our tickets and got our snack. We got two large popcorns, two large sodas, two packs of candy, and one bar of chocolate. I knew all this would end up in Jacob's stomach in less than an hour.

After getting butter on our popcorns, we walked into the dark theatre. We took our seats in the back row, where there was only one man with a hat covering most of his face near the far corner. Other than him, we had the row to ourselves.

That's good, I thought, and smiled at the reason why.

On our first movie date, we went to a rated-R movie for too much romance. We had only been dating for two weeks, and I wasn't very comfortable with this plan. However, Jacob insisted that we watch it, and how could I deny him and his gorgeous eyes?

The first thirty minutes was fine. I was actually enjoying myself.

That was when the actors onscreen shared their first kiss. And trust me, it was not just a peck on the lips. It was the longest and most intense kiss I had ever witnessed.

Jacob had leaned in and whispered, "I would love to kiss you like that."

I remember how surprised I was at his boldness. But I decided that this was typical Jacob. I played along.

"I don't think you have the guts to go that far," I had whispered back, pointing at the actors making out onscreen.

"Is that a challenge?" he had whispered, confident and excited.

I had wanted to back out, but I hated to break his high spirits. Now, thinking back, I'm happy I didn't.

"Yes."

He smiled and took my face into his hands. Then, he pulled my lips to his with as much force and intensity as the actors onscreen. I had never kissed that way with my first boyfriend, or any other person, for that matter, but I caught on quickly.

After a few minutes, a man next to us cleared his throat.

"Do you mind? We're trying to watch a movie here," he hissed, irritation clear in his voice.

We apologized-me blushing like a tomato, and Jacob grinning like a child who found out that his birthday will come every month from now on-and moved to the back.

"My, my," I had joked, chuckling. "You look like you've had a lot of practice. Should I be worried?"

"Maybe. I might not give you any breaks to breathe now that we have this whole row to ourselves," he had smiled, and kissed me once more.

* * *

"Bella?" Jacob called, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I looked at him, the smile from remembering the kiss still lingering on my face.

"What's so funny?" he asked, tracing my lips with his warm finger.

"I was remembering our first movie date," I said.

As a smile lit up Jacob's face, the man in the corner cringed and shuddered. I narrowed my eyes for a brief second, but turned my attention back to Jacob before he could notice.

"Wasn't it something like this?"

After a few minutes, we pulled away because the movie was starting.

I giggled. "Precisely."

We kissed a lot during the movie. Therefore, we missed most of it. After our fifth kiss, I decided it was time for a break.

"I'll be right back" I whispered, getting up. I stared, surprised, when Jacob yanked me back onto the soft cushion of the seat.

"I promised you that I wouldn't let you get up in the middle of the movie, remember?" Jacob explained.

"I'll be fine, Jake. Don't worry," I murmured.

"Fine. Hurry back to me," he whispered back, letting me go.

In the bathroom, I splashed my face with water and fixed my makeup. I rinsed my mouth with water and walked out.

As I was walking to the popcorn stand to get some more popcorn to replace the ones that Jacob had devoured, I ran into the man that was sitting in the back row with us.

As I fell back, a cold, white hand reached our to steady me.

Instead of saying "thank you," I stared at his hand.

I looked up, my eyes wide in surprise.

"Edward?"

* * *

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	4. Confused

_I let out a sharp breath when I saw how many reviews, "Favorite Story/Author," and "Story Alerts" my story had. This was impossible!_

_Before I knew it, I was typing the next chapter at super-speed, the two tests coming up tomorrow completely forgotten. Unfortunately, a__ rustle of paper under my arms stopped me._

_Oh, yeah. The tests. Dang it._

_Pouting, I closed my laptop, and continued to study._

**This is exactly what happened when I saw all the alerts and reviews I received. I really wanted to update the next chapter right then and there, but I had to study D: I'm so sorry, you guys and gals. Well, as I promised, I will be making the list of all my wonderful readers. I decided to call the list the "List of Gratitude" because that's what I'm doing when I make this list. Thank you, everyone. You have no idea how much it means to me to have such wonderful readers.**

**First, my reviewers: Charmedfan90, -X-Jake's-Girl-X-, I Wish I Was Mizz Cullen, jacob black rulez, Haylie Winchester, MissColly, and vamp1001.**

**Next, everyone who added me to their "Favorite Author" list: Charmedfan90, I Wish I Was Mizz Cullen, and jacob black rulez.**

**Third, all the people who added my story to their "Favorite Story" list: Charmedfan90, I Wish I Was Mizz Cullen, gabbyy, Emmett's Sex Toy, miriamne, and vamp1001.**

**Last, but definitely not least, all my readers who added my story to their "Story Alert" list: Charmedfan90, -X-Jake's-Girl-X-, I Wish I Was Mizz Cullen, emzlovesmidi, jacob black rulez, Chinese Miko, and Haylie Winchester.**

**Before we move onto the story, I want everyone to know that everything in this story, except the plot, belongs to Stephenie Meyer. The plot, however, belongs to me. Please remember that it isn't nice _at all _to steal people's ideas.**

**That's pretty much it. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Edward froze, too, and slowly pulled his hand back.

He spun around quickly and started to walk away, but I reached out and placed a hesitant hand on his back before he could even take his second step towards the door leading out the theatre. I knew that he would just shake off my weak, human touch and run away as fast as possible without attracting attention to himself.

This was why I was shocked when Edward just froze to my touch, as if it had turned him into a block of ice.

"Edward," I whispered. I knew he heard.

Edward sighed and turned around to face me.

I appraised him from head to toe. He still had the hat on. It was a plain beige one. His brown coat was buttoned up, with its collar tilted up slightly. His khaki pants stopped about one centimeter from the ground and covered the tops of his dark brown leather sneakers. His whole outfit _screamed_ designer, so Alice was probably still shopping for the family.

Alice. Oh, how I missed her. If I had the luck to see her again, I wouldn't complain about her giving me makeovers and buying ridiculously expensive things for a month. I hoped that she was happy, where ever she was right now. I made a mental note to ask Edward about Alice later. That was, _if_ he stayed long enough for a chat.

"Bella." Edward's voice was still velvety, as I remembered. I hadn't heard it for a long time, since that awful day when I went cliff diving for the first-and last-time in my life. The day Jacob and I shared our first kiss. The day I realized I loved Jacob.

I looked up at his face, and it annoyed me to see that the hat covered most of his face. Without thinking, I reached up to lift it off his face.

I gasped.

I hadn't been expecting any change in his face. I knew better. And, as I had guessed, his face had stayed the same. However, I was still shocked by how identical this face was to the one I had seen on the first day we met.

His tousled hair was still the beautiful, unique bronze shade. His skin was still just as pale and impenetrable as it had been before.

But when I looked up into his eyes, I couldn't even recognize them. The eyes that had been a soft shade of gold the last time I had seen him in the woods were pitch black now. The greatest difference, however, was the sadness in them. My heart ached painfully as I gazed into his sad eyes, and I dropped my gaze.

Why did I feel this way? Wasn't I completely over Edward? I belonged to Jacob now. He was my whole world. So why did I feel like my heart was splitting into two pieces at the sadness in his eyes?

Before I could think anything else, I heard a loud voice call my name.

"Bella!" Oh, no.

I spun around to see a relieved Jacob jogging towards Edward and me. It didn't seem like he had seen Edward yet.

I felt the hat being torn out of my hands. In my peripheral vision, I saw Edward put it back on.

Jacob stopped about ten feet away from us, finally taking in Edward. He frowned and continued to walk towards me, but he was careful now.

A pair of arms wrapped protectively around me. Jacob leaned and whispered in my ear. "I waited, but you didn't come back. I just came out to see what was keeping you so long. I thought you were having trouble carrying all the food by yourself . . . but I didn't expect _this_," he said, jerking his chin towards Edward.

Jacob straightened up and faced Edward. "I don't meant to be rude, but who are you?"

As I watched Edward, biting my lower lip, a laughing couple entered the theatre. A breeze came in through the narrow opening, and blew past Edward, to Jacob.

I watched as Jacob's eyes grew wide. In a short second, his surprised expression turned livid, and a growl ripped from his chest.

"Show your face, leech. We need to know who you are."

Edward slowly lifted the hat off his face. Jacob's eyes narrowed into angry slits.

"I can't believe you have the guts to come crawling back here after what you did to Bella," Jacob hissed. He started to vibrate head to toe.

To my surprise, Edward tore me away from Jacob's grasp and wrapped his own arms around me.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, struggling to free myself from his grasp. It was no use.

"He isn't safe right now. Give him time to calm down," Edward murmured.

"What are you talking about? You're the one who needs to go hunting. I need to help Jacob. Let me go!" I struggled again.

"Let her go, bloodsucker," Jacob growled quietly, still vibrating convulsively.

Edward deliberated for a moment. Finally, deciding that his stubbornness was causing Jacob to get even more upset, he let me go. I rushed to Jacob without hesitation. Jacob would never phase with me so close to him. I trusted him.

I wrapped my arms around Jacob, pressing my face to his chest. I rubbed his back soothingly, waiting for him to calm down.

When I saw that he wasn't calming down, I started to whisper his name.

That helped al lot. In a minute, he was back to his normal, composed self. I pulled away, but kept an arm around his waist.

I glanced up at Edward's face. It was composed, but his eyes held utter pain. But why would he be pained at the sight of me with Jacob? He didn't love me. I had only been one of his distractions.

"I see you have moved on, as I had wished," Edward said.

I looked up at Jacob lovingly. He looked down, and smiled at me. "I did as soon as I found someone to move onto."

"Bella," Edward started hesitantly." May I speak to you privately? There's a few things I want to discuss with you."

I stared at him, then at Jacob. I was pretty sure this was not even easy-going Jacob would allow.

"Jacob? Do you mind?" I asked.

He stared at me, searching my face for something. He sighed in defeat after a long wait.

"Fine," he said.

I smiled, and stood on my tip toes to kiss his neck. I turned to Edward, who was also smiling a little bit on the edges of his lips. His smile was somewhat confident. I stared at him, confused.

He stared back, but didn't answer the question in my eyes.

"When?" Jacob asked, breaking the silence.

"Now would be perfect. And no, you can't come with Bella. I said a _private_ talk. You can stay a few hundred yards away, just outside your hearing range. I'll drop Bella off where you are when we are done talking," Edward answered.

Jacob stared, confused, for a moment. Then, realization hit him. "You can read my mind?"

"Yes," Edward smirked. Then, his smirk suddenly turned to agony. Seeing that agonized expression made me panic.

"What are you doing?" I yelled at Jacob.

"Nothing," he smiled, and Edward regained his composure.

Edward put on his hat, this time only covering his head like he was supposed to. "Let's go, Bella."

I squeezed Jacob's hand, and followed Edward out.

* * *

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	5. Confessions

**(ALL READERS WHO DEMAND TO KNOW WHY I'VE BEEN GONE FOR SO LONG, PLEASE READ THIS AUTHORESS' NOTE)**

**I'm back! I know, I know. I've been gone for two whole weekends without warning. It isn't because I forgot; I think about Fanfiction 24/7, so it's pretty much impossible for me to forget. So why didn't I update last weekend? Because I was at a hotel at Disneyland for the whole weekend! If I had received any warnings in advance from my parents, I would have stayed up late on Friday to update, but my dad just decided to go to Disneyland all of a sudden on Saturday just as I was turning on my laptop to update. I tried to update over the week, but I was busy all week! On Monday, I had to go out somewhere with my mom; on Tuesday, I had quite a bit of homework; on Wednesday, I had a tiring GATE field trip so I had to rest all day; on Thursday, I had a terrible headache; on Friday, I had to study for a math competition; on Saturday, I had the math competition and went out until 10 PM. I know that these sound like miserable excuses, but they're true. I also had light headaches throughout the week like icing on the cake.**

**I think you've had enough of my excuses. Let us move on the the List of Gratitude. First, my reviewers: -X-Jake's-Girl-X-. AugustFirst, OtterPop23, I Wish I Was Mizz Cullen, Haylie Winchester, jacob black rulez, xXPeaceBabesXx, Brianna-May Sims, Charmedfan90, MissColly, and TwilightDarkRose. Next, the reader who added me as their favorite author: xXPeaceBabesXx. Third, the readers who added my story as one of their favorites: xXPeaceBabesXx, Brianna-May Sims, and keanniea14. Lastly, the readers who added my story to their "Story Alerts" list: OtterPop23, Brianna-May Sims, DarkenedRoseThorn, Angels Falls8, merie, and Jilliana. Thank you, everyone!**

**Before I start with the chapter, please remember that all settings, characters, etc. belong to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer. However, the plot belongs to me, and I intend it to stay that way.**

* * *

We walked out of the theatre together. I tried to put some space between us-after all, we _were_ exes-but Edward stuck to my side like superglue. I finally gave up, sighing.

I didn't notice where we were going until the light was cut off. I looked around and finally realized that we were in the forest behind the theatre.

"Are we going to talk here?" I asked after a short period of uncomfortable silence.

Edward deliberated for a short second before grinning his crooked grin. I noticed that his even though his grin was the same grin from before, there was a subtle difference. Before I could think more about it, it disappeared.

"No," he answered. "We're going to our meadow. Hop on." He came one step closer and crouched in front of me.

I hesitated, but my curiosity got the best of me. Whatever he was going to tell me must be important, considering he came all the way to Forks to tell me. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to kiss me or anything. He was just offering me a ride.

I hopped on his back and wrapped my arms securely around his ice-cold neck. I wrapped my legs around his torso when he stood up to keep them away from his legs.

"Ready?" he said, excitement clear in his voice.

"Yes," I whispered.

Then, I was flying through the dense forest. I wasn't afraid of hitting the trees-I knew Edward never would. Like he said on our first trip to the meadow, running was his second nature. I laughed at the familiar feeling of the wind whooshing past my face, my hair blowing crazily in the wind, and the way Edward's feet only barely touched the ground, making it really seem like we were flying.

When my neck started to cramp up from straining it to stay up, I relaxed, letting my head fall. As my head made its way to the space between his neck and shoulder, my lips brushed against his neck. The familiar tingling feeling made me freeze in place.

Edward stiffened as well, but didn't stop running. I forced my head back up, ignoring the pain at the back of my neck.

I realized that Edward was still stiff. "I'm sorry," I apologized. "It was an accident."

That didn't make him relax as I had been expecting it to. I sensed a strange air of anxiety and confusion in the atmosphere. I frowned.

I gasped when Edward suddenly came to a stop.

When Edward didn't continue running, I looked around us. A another gasp escaped my lips, and I loosened my grip around his neck and torso. I landed softly on the damp grass.

We were in our meadow. Even though there was no "us" anymore, the traces of all the days we had spent here were everywhere.

I turned in a full circle, taking everything in. The small tree he had unsprouted to show me how strong he was, the red swing hanging on the sturdiest branch of the biggest tree here, the carving of our names in a heart on the ancient tree that still produced the most beautiful flowers every year . . .

I suddenly remembered that I was not alone in this magical place, and turned to see what Edward was doing, only to find that he was staring intently at me.

I felt the familiar blush color my face. I dropped my gaze to my shoes and mumbled, "What?"

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Edward approach me slowly and hesitantly. I looked up, still warm on the cheeks.

"Would you like to come sit on the swing with me?" he offered.

I nodded and followed him to the swing that we had built together out of real oak. We had painted it red in the Cullen's garage, making a huge mess, accidently getting some on his Volvo . . .

Edward patted the space beside him when I reached him. I sat down, smiling when it shook gently.

I turned to him. "What did you want to talk about?"

Edward's peaceful expression was clouded over by a melancholy frown the moment the words left my mouth. I bit my lips nervously at his reaction. Was something terribly wrong? Had something happened to the Cullens? I flinched at the thought.

"Edward? What's wrong?" I demanded.

Edward's sad expression quickly turned into one of irritation. He hissed angrily. I frowned at this sudden change.

"Jacob Black, do you mind backing off a few miles? What I want to tell Bella is for her ears, not yours. You have no right to listen," he shouted at the forest.

Edward waited for a moment, then turned to me. He sighed. "Nothing happened, Bella. I just . . . saw the light, I guess you could say."

"What do you mean?" I felt my eyebrows pull together.

He sighed. "Bella, when I left you last fall, I didn't leave because I didn't love you." He paused, letting that sink in.

My eyes widened. I couldn't say anything.

"I left because . . ." he stopped, then everything spilled out. "I left because you were, and still are, the most important thing in my world. I had always known what a danger I was to your life, but when I saw it in action at that terrible birthday party, I couldn't stay. I needed to get you away from me and my family-my kind. The only way I could do that was by leaving. But I couldn't leave knowing that you wouldn't move on. That's why I told all those lies. That I didn't love you. That I didn't want you. As if that were even possible! Bella," he grabbed my hand almost roughly, staring into my eyes, "I love you. I want you. I need you. I can't live without you. I know that sounds very cliche, but it's true. Please, please, _please_ take me back."

I felt my heart beat furiously against my chest. It was so loud that it was almost embarrassing.

"Bella, say something!" Edward pleaded anxiously.

"I," I croaked. I cleared my throat. "I don't know what to say. Why did you come back if you wanted me to move on?"

"I wanted to be strong for you. But Bella, it was the hardest thing to do. I had to leave my family because of all the pain and sadness I was causing them. I couldn't move, or even think. I was like an empty shell. When I came back to check on the family, Alice finally tried to check on you for me, but she couldn't see you. I had to see that you were okay. That you weren't . . . dead. I got here this morning, and I was going to check your bedroom, but I smelled something disgusting. It was the dog. I heard that you were going to the theatre in Port Angeles, so I followed. I meant to stay away, but you caught me," he explained in one breath.

I stared at him, trying to organize my thoughts. I started speaking after a long period of silence. "Edward, when you first left me, I was like a corpse. I moved around the house like a zombie, I didn't talk unless I was spoken to, I didn't pay attention to anything happening around me, and I stayed that way for the first few months. I couldn't think about you, or my whole body would shut down.

"Then, one day, I found that I could hear your voice when I did something reckless and stupid. That's why I decided to try riding motorcycles. But I needed a mechanic to fix them up, so I went to see Jacob again. I later found that when I was with Jacob, the pain of losing you numbed a bit. I started spending all my time with him. Even after I found out he was a werewolf, I stayed. I had already met a whole family of vampires-what difference did a pack of werewolves make?

"On January 27th, when Jacob was hunting Victoria with his pack, I decided to go cliff-diving. I wasn't trying to kill myself. I had seen the pack do it, and I wanted to try. However, thanks to my bad luck and the freezing water that I had paid no attention to, I almost drowned that day. On that same day, Victoria was killed. On that same day, I finally realized that Jacob was more than just a friend to me.

"We've been together ever since. We'll be celebrating our two-month anniversary next week," I smiled towards the end at the part about our anniversary.

"Why are you telling me this?" Edward whispered.

"Edward, I'm happy where I am right now. I don't want to give Jacob up."

Edward looked down. "Bella, you can't know that. He is a werewolf. He might imprint on someone else. He won't be able to stay with you in that case. It seems that many of his pack members have already imprinted. You can't know that he won't."

I didn't have an answer to that. Edward looked up, victorious.

"Edward, I love Jacob. You left me, and he healed the wound you gave me when you left. I 'm not blaming you for leaving me because you gave me Jacob when you left, but you can't try to take away what _you_ made happen."

Edward stood. "I'm not asking you to choose today, Bella. I can wait. I have an endless amount of time. Just think about it, please."

I sighed. "Fine." Then I shivered. It was getting chilly.

Edward unbuttoned his jacket in a flash, and handed it to me. I put it on, mumbling a quiet, "Thank you."

When I looked up, I gasped involuntarily. The sweater he wore inside his jacket clung to his body, emphasizing his lean muscles. Also, the sun was shining in from the tiny gaps in the trees, and his face was glittering like a thousand diamonds.

I realized that I was ogling him with my mouth hanging open. I snapped my mouth shut, and dropped my gaze, blushing furiously.

I heard him chuckle. "See? Just think about it, Bella. I'll be here, waiting. But would you like to leave now? It's going to get dark soon."

I nodded silently, my eyes still glued to the ground. And I knew, as much as I hated to, that I _would_ think about the option he had provided me later, as I slept.

* * *

**How was that? I tried to make it long, but it didn't turn out as long as I intended it to. All reviews are appreciated! Thank you!**


	6. Too Real

_**(CAUTION: DO NOT READ SKIP TO THE END AND READ WHAT HAPPENS OR YOU WILL HAVE NO FUN AT ALL READING THIS CHAPTER!)**_

**I don't have much time right now so I'll just go on to the List of Gratitude.**

**These are my wonderful reviewers. They let me know that I made a few mistakes without being mean about it. I made a lot of mistakes on my last chapter because I was rushing to update as soon as I possibly could. I tried to fix all the mistakes I found, but if you still see mistakes (you probably can), PLEASE correct me. Okay, so they are: -X-Jake's-Girl-X-, MissColly, Haylie Winchester, and OtterPop23.**

**Let us move onto my wonderful readers who added my story to their "Favorite Stories" list. They are: Rachaelohplz and nette91.**

**Lastly, let's find out who decided to add my story to their "Story Alerts" list! Let me see, there's crazygurl34, Starr Cullen, and Candice White!**

**I thank all of the people listed above and also all my readers who read my story! I appreciate it very much when you leave reviews and add me to your list, but it's okay if you can't. Maybe when you think my story is worthy enough of a little more time, you can leave reviews and add me. I don't mind. But to my readers who _did_ review or add me, I send you an extra round of thanks! I think we should move onto the story now. You've had enough of my talking :)**

**But before you go on, please remember that all recognizable characters, phrases, and settings belong to Stephenie Meyer! Everything else belongs to ME! Muahahaha! Uh, yeah.**

* * *

I hopped off Edward's back and stumbled into Jacob's waiting arms. Jacob buried his face into my hair for a moment. He looked up when Edward cleared his throat loudly.

Jacob let go of me, but grasped my hand firmly. "What? You can leave now. Turn into a bat and fly away," he smirked.

"How very funny. I was actually hoping to speak to Bella for a moment before 'flying away,'" Edward retorted.

The tension between them was so tangible that I was sure that I could cut it with a knife. But since there wasn't a knife near me, _I_ would have to do.

"Uh, guys? Boys?" I smiled at that one. They were actually acting like little boys fighting over the last toy in the bucket. Except in this situation, they were actually fighting over _me_, not a toy, and they looked like they would kill to get what they wanted. "Can we please just work this out _without_ ripping each others' throats out? Please?"

They both looked down at me, surprised. I felt my face warm up.

"What? You guys look like you really will do that if I don't stop you. Also, you two might not notice, but it's getting chilly out here. Can we just hurry and get the human back home?" I asked, rubbing my hands against my arms.

Jacob had his arms around me in an instant, and I was suddenly warmer. I relaxed, and leaned back onto his chest. "Thank you," I whispered.

He smiled. "Sure thing." Then he looked up at Edward. "You already had a large block of time to talk to her. You should have said everything that needed to be said before coming back here. I'm not letting you run off with Bella again."

Edward stiffened. "Maybe you forgot, but you don't _own_ Bella, mongrel. You're not her father, either. Bella has every right to talk to me if she wants to. Besides, I wasn't going to take her away again. I just want to step aside with her and remind her of a few key points of our conversation."

Jacob glared murderously at Edward before looking down at me. He sighed. "What do you want to do, Bella?"

I hesitated. "I want to go talk to Edward."

He sighed again. "I thought so. Well, I'll just go and wait in the car." He squeezed me, and headed towards his Volkswagen.

I looked at Edward when Jacob got in and started the car. "What did you want to remind me?"

Edward stepped closer, and whispered right at my ear. There was no chance of Jacob hearing what Edward told me in this position. "Bella, remember that I'm here, and I will always be. Jacob is here right now, but there is a very good chance he won't be in a few years. Please make the right decision. I can tell you that you will regret your decision if you let me go," he whispered in his velvet voice. He was using his persuasive voice. I wanted to make him stop being so persuasive because it wasn't fair, but I couldn't. I just nodded. "Just call my name from your window if you need me. I'll be around."

I nodded again, and he released me reluctantly. He flashed me the crooked grin he knew I loved. Cheater, I thought, but I couldn't look away. I jumped when Jacob honked his horn impatiently. I turned and ran to the Volkswagen before Edward could find another way to lure me with his charming ways.

"What did he want to remind you of?" Jacob inquired the moment I got in the car.

I didn't reply right away because I was too busy staring at Edward in the distance. I stared until Jacob made the turn. "Nothing special," I answered a beat late.

Jacob stared, incredulous, until I yelled at him to keep his eyes on the road. I trusted Edward to do that without running into a tree, but Jacob didn't have vampire instincts. It made me anxious to see him drive with his eyes off the road, as much as I enjoyed having his eyes on me. Hmm, that was one thing Edward did better than Jacob.

I shook my head, trying to shake my previous thoughts away as well. Jacob saw the gesture and decided to stop questioning me.

We went the rest of the way in silence. When we finally got home, I invited Jacob in since it was still early. We found Charlie watching a baseball game. He greeted Jacob warmly, and told us that he had ordered pizza. We found two and a half large ones on the counter.

Jacob and I brought them to the table along with some coke and sprite. Jacob ate two pizzas all by himself while I just nibbled one piece.

"Is something wrong? I know you don't eat as much as me, but you hardly ate even two pieces today," Jacob noted as we cleaned up.

I just shrugged. "I just wasn't hungry."

I felt his gaze on me, but I kept my eyes on the plate I was washing because I knew that the blush that I knew would color my face would give me away.

Jacob "left" early, and I turned in for bed early, too.

When I opened my bedroom door after taking a shower and getting ready for bed, I found Jacob lying on my bed. I curled up next to him, snuggling in his arms, and dozed off quickly.

* * *

The next thing I knew, the rare sunshine was pouring in from my small window. It was morning already, and I hadn't dreamt about Edward at all. Not even for one minute.

I glanced up to see if Jacob was still sleeping. He was. He was even snoring quietly. I smiled, and untangled myself from his grasp, careful not to wake him up. After five minutes of battling with Jacob's long, heavy arms, I was free. Unable to resist, I planted a light kiss on his cheek before heading out of the room and down the stairs.

I made some toast and found an apple in the refridgerator. It still looked fresh, so I peeled half of it and ate it. It tasted okay.

I finished cleaning up my mess, but Jacob was still asleep. I decided to do some cleaning in the living room, too. It looked like it would soon turn into a junk yard if I didn't. Charlie tried to keep the house clean, but he was still a man.

An hour later, the living room was in a better shape. I thought about cleaning the kitchen, too, but decided against it. I needed some fresh air.

I ripped out a piece of paper from my notebook and wrote, "_In the forest, taking a walk. I won't be long. Love you, Bella_."

When the note was nicely placed on the kitchen counter where Jacob could see it, I grabbed a coat and headed out.

As soon as I entered the forest, I felt like I was home. When I first came to Forks, all the green had freaked me out. I missed the brown of Phoenix. But now, green was home. I felt relaxed around green, which is one reason I enjoyed walking around this green, mossy forest.

The second reason was that this forest is where Edward left me, opening the door to Jacob's love. Though I couldn't even think of this place without breaking down just a few months ago, this place was now the very beginning of Jacob's and my relationship. I smiled for a second, but frowned when I remembered everything Edward told me last night.

"Bella?" I jumped a foot in the air, but relaxed as soon as I recognized the voice.

_Speak (or think, in this case) of the devil and the devil shall arrive_, I thought.

Edward appeared from the direction of the house. He smiled at my outfit. I looked down, then blushed. I was wearing a brown tank top with turquoise bottoms and pink fluffy slippers that Jacob had gotten for me as a joke-ish gift.

"You look cute," he complimented.

"Thanks," I mumbled, still not looking up.

"Look," he said. I looked up immediately because he suddenly sounded much more serious that he had been just a moment ago. "Bella, everything I told you last night . . . was true . . . at the time."

I frowned, not comprehending.

"What I'm trying to say is . . . when I told you yesterday that I loved you and wanted you back, it was true. But I found someone last night. She is beautiful, kind, talented, and everything else I look for in a women. Amazingly, she feels the same way about me. We'll be getting married in two months," Edward explained quickly.

I stared at him, my mouth slightly open. Was this a joke? How could he change his mind so fast? Yesterday, he had told me that he would wait for me forever. _Sure_, I thought sarcastically.

Busy thinking, I didn't realize Edward was waiting for an answer. What should I say? That I thought he had lied to me, again? No, it would be better if I lied.

"Okay, I guess," I said, because these words were the only ones that I could say without sounding like some stupid, jealous human.

"Okay?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"What do you want me to say?"

"Well, I don't know, but are you saying that you're okay with me marrying some other woman?"

I paused. It didn't sound very "okay" when he put it that way. I felt the familiar pain in my heart, throbbing and threatening to break down my body. I tried to stay strong. "Yes. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go talk to my own boyfriend. I hope you have a nice wedding, Edward."

Edward looked absolutely shocked. What had he expected me to do, get on my knees and beg him to take me instead? The Bella a few months ago might have done that gladly if it meant being with Edward, but the Bella now wasn't like that anymore. I knew that if Jacob was here, I would be able to take on anything, which was why I was hurrying back. I needed to get to him before the thought of Edward marrying some gorgeous woman, or vampire, got to me.

"Thanks, Bella," I heard him say.

I didn't answer, but continued home. When I got to my destination, I saw Jacob heading towards me. I got to him, told him to take me home, and collapsed.

I tried to make myself be reasonable. Jacob was better for me than Edward. I loved Jacob, not Edward. I was over Edward. Edward didn't love me. He was going to marry some other gorgeous, talented . . . I forced myself to stop right there because as soon as I thought those words, a new set of sobs rocked through me.

I started crying even harder when I realized that I had never stopped loving Edward. I thought I had, but the truth was that I had only suppressed it. My love for Edward had always been there. I cried for not being completely faithful to Jacob. I cried for being so weak and crying in front of Jacob. I cried and cried and cried.

I don't know how long it took for my tear-supply to run out, but it did, eventually. I got up and out of Jacob's arms. That's when I saw the flash of pain and betrayal in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but I didn't get to hear it. I didn't need to hear because I already knew.

A familiar darkness took over my body, numbing the pain, the sadness, and everything else.

* * *

"Bella!" a voice shouted. It was Edward. Edward? But didn't he say he didn't want me anymore? That he was getting married to someone else?

I opened my eyes. Two sets of eyes stared back. Gold and brown.

"Bella!" the familiar, warm set of arms embraced me.

When he finally let go, I rubbed my eyes and tried to remember what had happened. There had been a lot of crying, rejection, sadness, pain . . .

"What happened? Edward, why are you here? Shouldn't you be planning your wedding?" I asked, confused.

Edward's brows furrowed. "What wedding? Bella, are you alright?"

I blinked stupidly, unable to think straight.

Jacob spoke up this time. "You had a nightmare, but you wouldn't wake up. We tried everything; we poured water on you, slapped you gently, tickled you, and etc. But you still didn't wake up! Then you started crying. We were so worried!"

I blinked again, absorbing that. From the moment I "woke up," to the moment where I "fainted," it had all been a dream.

Which meant I still needed to choose between Edward and Jacob. I groaned.

* * *

**How was that? I know, this is the longest, but wierdest chapter so far! Yes, it was a dream. A very live one, at that. Please leave reviews!**


	7. Snap Decision

**Hello, everyone! I'm so sorry for the delay. Both of my computers (the laptop and the desktop) have been very weird lately, and they finally shut down. I tried to update, but the file had errors or something. Anyways, I'm updating right now, so that's good :)**

**I have made the decision of not continuing the List of Gratitude anymore. It takes too long so find out who has left reviews and alerts. It does NOT mean that I don't appreciate your response to my story. It just means I want to update faster for you. Reviews are always, always appreciated.**

**Before we go on with the story, let me remind you that all recognizable characters and settings belong to the amazing Stephenie Meyer!**

* * *

The response to my groan was immediate. Edward, who had been leaning over me, leaned in even closer so that his face was literally three inches away from mine. His anxious eyes searched my face for any other signs of stress or pain. He spoke quickly, his delicious breath fanning my face. "What's wrong, Bella? Do you need medical help? I would take you to Carlisle, but he's in Maine with the rest of the family. If it's an emergency, I can help you, I guess. I've been to medical school a few times . . ." While Edward babbled panickedly, I was busy fantasizing about his cold lips on mine, my hands in his hair, tasting his sweet breath . . .

I shook my head, meaning to shoo away the disturbing thoughts, but Edward thought I was answering to his babbles. He pursed his lips and continued to stare.

During this little babbling and fantasizing, Jacob was trying to push Edward off my bed. He wasn't making much progress even though he was pushing with all his might.

Jacob finally gave up with a huff. Edward smirked at his. "Are you done now, pup?" he taunted.

Jacob scowled and started to growl. Abruptly, his scowl turned into a victorious smile, and I was flung off the bed and into his arms. I looked at him, surprised.

Jacob planted a kiss on my lips, and I relaxed instantly. "Yes," he smirked at the surprised Edward.

Edward narrowed his eyes and got off the bed. I noticed that he was in a new set of clothes. An emerald green turtleneck clung to his body, emphasizing his muscles, like the one he had worn yesterday. His beige pants were slightly wrinkled from sitting-or parly lying-on the bed. Edward felt my gaze and looked up, smiling brilliantly. I blushed, and looked back at Jacob.

Jacob was staring at me worriedly, but his worry didn't seem to be entirely on my health anymore. His deep, dark brown eyes searched my face, missing nothing. I winced, knowing that my blush would give away everything he needed to know.

Jacob looked up and gazed at Edward meaningfully. After a minute of hesitation, Edward nodded and started towards the window. I panicked. Was he leaving already?

"Edward?" I croaked. I cleared my throat. "Are you leaving already?" I tried to make my voice as casual as possible, but it sounded too pained, even to me. Edward turned, and it was easy to see from his smile that he was satisfied with my response.

"No. Jacob just wants a moment with you. I promise not to leave, so don't worry," he assured. He gazed at me, showing only love in his eyes, then turned and jumped out the window.

It was silent for a moment. I stared out the window, and I could feel Jacob's eyes on me. Jacob put me down gently, holding onto me until I gained my balance. When I was safely set on my fett, he turned and walked to the other side of the room. I froze.

Jacob didn't say anything. He just stared at the pictures of us that I had pinned on a bulletin board. One tense minute passed.

"Jacob?" I called hesitantly.

He didn't turn or make any other sign that he had heard me. I frowned and took one hesitant step towards him. He didn't object, so I walked up to him slowly, giving him time to step away if he wanted to. Since he didn't, I wrapped my arms around him from behind, but he stayed motionless.

"Jacob." My voice was even softer now. I doubted he could hear, even with his sharp hearing.

He sighed and started to turn. I unwrapped my arms and took a step back. I looked up, and I was sad to see that the cold mask I had thought as gone for good was back.

"Jacob, I'm sorry," I whispered.

Jacob closed his eyes, and his hands started to shake. "It's settled, then? You're leaving me?"

"No!" I shouted, horrified. "Why would you think that?"

He opened his eyes. I flinched at the anger in them. He had never set those kinds of eyes on me. Whenever he looked at me, he would smile lovingly, even if he was furious at somebody. Even when we fought, he had been more sad than mad. "I'm not that stupid, Bella. I can see it in your eyes that he loves you, and you love him back."

I didn't say anything. I wanted to object, but I knew he would see through the lie easily. Jacob continued to glare accusingly.

"Jacob," I murmured a while later, "I won't lie and say that I have no feelings for Edward, no matter how badly I want to. But that doesn't mean I'm leaving. I need to think things over."

"So you'll stay for now, but you might leave with him later?" he growled.

"Yes," I whispered, scared to say more.

Jacob started to vibrate convulsively. He started towards the window. I followed him, reaching out, but he slapped my arm away. A stab of pain shot up my arm. I clenched my teeth, supressing a cry. Tears started to well up, but he didn't see, because he was climbing out of my window. He disappeared.

I stared out the window and into the peaceful, sunny day. I could hear birds chirping cheerfully outside. I walked over to the window, shut it, locked it, and drew the curtains. Then, I stumbled to the bed, collapsing into it.

The tears I had been holding back spilled over, but I didn't try to stop them. I let them pour out.

Sleep took over my senses as I watched my tears make dark circles on Edward's brown coat.

* * *

I woke up at the sound of Charlie clumping around downstairs.

I blinked a few times and looked around the room. It was completely dark except the green light from my alarm clock. I blinked and tried to make out the numbers. It was seven-forty.

As I got up, I grimaced at the pain on my arm wher Jacob had unintentionally hit me. I touched it, and gasped in pain. I knew I was going to have a huge bruise by tomorrow. I changed into a long sleeved shirt that would cover the soon-to-be-bruise and hurried to the bathroom. The reflection of me in the mirror confirmed my fears-I looked exactly like I would after crying my eyes out.

After washing my face with cold water, brushing my hair and teeth, and applying some make up to hide the dark circles circling my eyes, I checked the mirror again. I grimaced at my empty, sad eyes. I tried to smiled. Better.

I ran down the stairs, which was a huge mistake without Edward or Jacob around. Halfway down, I missed a step and fell down.

"Bella?" Charlie called from the living room. He hurried over and kneeled down next to me.

I winced at the pain on my hips. "I'm fine. Or I will be," I added at Charlie's incredulous expression.

As a worried Charlie checked for any injuries I was trying to keep from him, I saw Edward's anxious face outside the window. I bit my lip when Charlie poked the place where Jacob had hit me, and shook my head no.

Charlie finished his inspection and straightened up. Edward disappeared. "When you get your own place, make sure that it has no stairs," Charlie joked as he helped me up.

I grinned, relieved that he wasn't making a fuss. "Sure, Dad. I was just thinking about the same thing."

We walked to the kitchen, where I was surprised to see a table set for three. A huge bowl of spaghetti rested in the middle.

"I was at Billy's today, and he sent this," he gestured to the bowl of spaghetti, "because he thinks you deserve a break from all the cooking you do for me and Jacob," he explained. "But honestly, I think he just wants to show off his new cooking skills."

I laughed, remembering how proud Billy had been when he first cooked for us after his first cooking lesson down at the reservation.

"So, where's Jacob?" Charlie asked as he got up to get some water. I stopped laughing at once and looked down.

Charlie turned when I didn't answer. "Well?"

"Jacob had to go down to see his friends today," I answered in an expressionless voice. It was the best I could do. Charlie's question had brought back a new round of pain: the pain of Jacob's absence.

"Oh, that's too bad."

We ate in silence. Charlie had noticed my discomfort, but he didn't question me, for which I was very grateful.

As I was cleaning up the table, the phone rang. I ran to get it, knowing it was Renee making her almost-daily calls. No one called except her during this time.

As I had guessed, it was my happy, carefree mom who spoke when I got the phone. "Hey, honey. Have you changed your mind yet?"

I smiled. Renee had been trying to make me come over and visit her in Jacksonville for spring break, which was in two days. I had refused everytime because I didn't want to be away from Jacob for any length of time. I started to refuse like I always did, but something entirely different came out of my mouth.

"Sure, Mom. I'll buy a plane ticket right now. See you tomorrow night."

* * *

**Did you love it? Hate it? Please leave reviews!**


	8. Lucky Marie

**Hi, everyone. I haven't uploaded in a while, and I'm super sorry. But I have a good excuse. We had STAR testing, the most important testing of the year in California. We have it every year, and I was busy studying for it and trying to sleep early. After that, we had Open House, so we had to do so many projects that I didn't have time to even open the laptop. Sorry! Also, I only got two reviews, so I guess I was waiting for more. To my reviewers, thank you very much!**

**Before we move onto the story, let me remind you that all recognizable characters, settings, and quotes belong to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer! The plot belongs to me, though, and please keep that in mind.**

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I was a huge coward. I was a coward who was willing to fly across the country just to get away from what I feared: a confrontation from Edward or Jacob. Unfortunately, my dad was against the idea of me leaving tonight, so I had to endure a whole night of worry that Jacob or Edward would break in the house and try to stop me.

I changed into my pajamas and turned on my new laptop. It was second-hand, but Jacob had bought it for our one-month anniversary, so it was one of my most valuable possessions. I carried it and its charger to my bed and sat down, waiting for the laptop to turn on.

I had missed most of the movie yesterday because I was kissing Jacob, like we did in most movies, so I was going to look it up and read a summary of it.

I typed in "Second Chances" on Wikipedia and rolled down. My eyes became wider as I rolled down farther.

By the time I finished reading the whole thing, my eyes were as wide as those of the cute guinea pig in _Bedtime Stories_.

I closed my eyes, shaking my head. I opened my eyes and read the summary again.

Second Chances _is a hit romance movie. It is told in the main male character, Edmund's, point of view._

_Edmund is a sophomore in high school in a small town. He doesn't specify which one, but it is in the rainy state of Washington. His father is a respected doctor at the local hospital. He is an only child whose only friend is the girl next door, Marie. Marie is also his long-term girlfriend._

_When Edmund receives news that his family will be moving to L.A., California, because a new job his father got there, he is devastated. He finally decides to break up with Marie so that she will be able to move on instead of clinging onto him. Edmund leaves Marie in tears, thinking what he did was the best choice for her._

_The only thing Edmund ever thinks about is Marie. He wonders if she has moved on, like he wanted her to. A selfish side of him wishes that she is still waiting for him._

_Almost three years after Edmund's move to California, his parents decide to send him to Washington for three weeks as his graduation present. Edmund is excited because he has decided to beg Marie for a second chance, even if they need to keep a long-distance relationship._

_When Edmund arrives in Washington, he drives from the airport to the small town he used to live in on his rented car. When he sees the movie theatre that he and Marie used to go to every month, he stops by._

_As Edmund is entering the movie theatre, he hears the sound of the laughter he has dreaming of hearing for almost three years. He turns toward the sound of the laughter, but stops in place when he sees that she is closing her eyes with her arms around a tall Native American boy's neck. Marie opens her eyes, spots Edmund, and untangles herself from the boy._

_They talk, and Edmund realizes that Marie has been dating the Native American boy, James, for a year. Edmund begs Marie to take him back. Marie looks torn._

_Edmund isn't able to take the pain anymore, and he rushes out of the theatre. He spends two nights in a motel crying and remembering how Marie had matured into a beautiful woman._

_On the fourth day, Edmund finally makes it out of bed to get some food from the store. There, he meets James. James tells Edmund that Marie was cliff-diving with him for recreational purposes and almost drowned. She is currently at the local hospital. She has hypothermia and shows no signs of waking from the coma she has slipped into._

_Edmund rushes to the hospital and stays by Marie's side, completely ignoring James on the other side of her. He talks to her, hoping to help her wake up._

_On the second day, Marie wakes up and finds Edmund asleep next to her. James isn't there because he has gone to grab some food. Marie gently kisses Edmund on the lips, and he wakes up._

_Marie tells Edmund that she only agreed to date James in the first place because he was the only one who came close to understanding the pain she was in when Edmund left her. She wasn't able to say yes to him right away in the theatre because she didn't want to hurt her friend. She called him many times after their encounter at the theatre, but he didn't answer, so she believed that she had lost her true love. She tried to drown on purpose to end her pain._

_Edmund doesn't believe her because he doesn't remember recieving any calls. Marie tells him to check his phone. Edmund obeys and realizes that his phone has been off since his first day in Washington. He kisses Marie, and James walks in on them. Marie explains her true feelings, and James leaves the happy couple._

_The movie ends on the beach after Edmund makes Marie promise never to cliff-dive again._

I was still shocked. How could the movie be so similar to my situation? People thought that Edward's family had moved to L.A. because Carlisle had gotten a new job there. I had cliff-dived for Edward, and almost froze to death. I had met Edward again in a theatre. The similarities were freaking me out.

But what made me read the summary again was the ending. Marie had never loved James as much as she loved Edmund, so it made the choice easier for her. She had chosen her happily ever after with Edmund without much hesitation.

My feelings were different of those of Marie. I groaned. I had hoped that I loved Jacob more, but I knew I didn't. I loved them equally, so both choices would hurt me.

_Lucky Marie_, I thought.

A screech on the window startled me, and I jumped off the bed, causing the laptop to snap closed.

"Bella?" It was Edward. I sighed in relief.

I walked to the window. Edward was dangling on the windowsill with on one hand. "Bella, will you please open the window? I tried the hidden key under the eave, but it's not there anymore."

I grinned. I had taken the key so Edward would not be able to break in. Of course, he could shatter the small locked window like it was a piece of paper, but he wouldn't want to involve the police.

"Bella?" Edward repeated.

"No, I won't open the window, Edward. I have to go to bed because I'll be preparing a week's portion of food for Charlie and packing tomorrow morning. Goodnight, Edward," I said, turning to the bed.

"All right, then, we can talk like this. I don't mind dangling on the window if it means I can talk to you. I won't deprive you of your sleep, but do you mind answering just one question?"

"What?" I mumbled as I moved my laptop to my desk and got under the covers.

"Why are you going to Jacksonville? I know that visiting Renee isn't your only goal of this trip."

I froze. "You know why." I bit my lip, trying to keep the tears from falling as I remembered what had happened with Jacob earlier, but a few ran down my cheeks.

"No, I don't. Bella, as much as I hate to say this, Jacob loves you. He _will_ be back. But if you run away like this, you will ruin your relationship for sure."

"Why do you care if we break up? If you really love me and want me back, shouldn't you be happy that I'm ending my relationship with him?" I retorted bitterly without looking at him.

"I _do_ love you and want you back, Bella. You have no idea how much I long for a second chance. But I know you'll be hurt if you break up with him. I just don't want to see you hurting," Edward answered calmly.

"Edward, I'm going to Jacksonville no matter what you say, but I won't stay there forever. But I need to go. I need some alone time," I whispered. "Goodnight, Edward."

He didn't answer, but as I slipped into warm, blissful sleep, I heard him whisper, "I love you, Bella."

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_**PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS! Thank you :)**_


	9. Airport Disasters

**Hi, everyone. I was wondering, is my story getting a bit too boring or something? My chapters are getting less and less reveiws :( Oh, well. I'll just move onto the story for now, but it would be nice to recieve a few more reviews.**

**And I still don't own Twilight. It still belongs to the amazing Stephenie Meyer. Although, I would think that she was even more amazing if she let me own Twilight . . .**

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"The soup is under some stuff, so you'll have to dig around a bit. Remember to always take the lid off if you need to microwave anything," I reminded Charlie, who was shuffling ahead of me with my small suitcase.

Charlie opened the passenger side door of my truck and dropped the suitcase onto the seat. He turned for my small backpack.

"Bella, don't worry about me. You've cooked so mych food that I won't finish even half of it before you come back. There's no way that I'm going to order pizza or attempt to cook with your food around," he said seriously, and I laughed.

"Well, if you really think so, then call Billy down. I hate to leave you all alone in this house for a whole week," I said as Charlie shut the passenger side door.

"Bella, may I remind you that I've been living alone for more than a decade? One short week won't be long enough to make me feel lonely," he chuckled as he went on, "Jacob, on the other hand, might call every single day to hear his little girlfriend's voice."

I forced myself to chuckle along with him. I had "forgotten" to tell Charlie that Jacob and I weren't exactly talking to each other right now, and I didn't plan on telling him now.

"I guess that's eveything," Charlie muttered, rocking back and forth on his heels. "Tell your mom I said hi."

"I will," I promised, then added, "but if you can't find something-"

"-just give you a call, and you'll be able to help me. And I should eat the salad today, because it'll get unfresh soon, right?" Charlie finished for me with a grin.

"Right," I smiled and got on my toes to give him a peck on his cheeck. "I'll miss you, Dad. Take care of yourself while I'm gone."

"I will, I will. Now, stop worrying about me. This is your vacation. Have fun with your mom. Go see some sun," Charlie encouraged.

"Seeing sun in Jacksonville . . . that'll be a mighty hard thing to do," I joked, climbing in the truck.

Charlie laughed and stepped aside as I pulled out onto the street. He waved, and I waved back.

As I drove past the dark forest beside my house, I thought I saw a pair of bright golden eyes following me.

* * *

As soon as I was positive that Charile couldn't see me, I dropped the happy smile. I didn't know what expression took its place, but I was positive that it was far from happy.

My thoughts drifted. It was a peaceful day, just like yesterday. It was supposed to be raining right now, according to the Weather Channel, but when had they ever been right? Before I had turned off the TV to go fetch my unbrella, I had seen an ad for a new Blackberry. Maybe I should buy a new phone and throw away my old one. Or maybe . . .

I let my thoughts drift like that for an hour or so, but soon, they started to linger more and more on Jacob or Edward. I decided my thoughts needed a bit of reigning in and pulled over to fish my iPod out of my backpack. I turned on the rock songs I had downloaded for this purpose and started to drive again.

After about two hours of driving, it started raining cats and dogs. Maybe I should give the meteorologists some more credit.

I was starting to get a bit hungry, so I parked in front of an Italian restaurant for lunch.

The restaurant was very much like La Bella Italiana in Port Angeles. I considered trying another restaurant -Chinese, maybe?- but the rain was really pouring outside, and it didn't look very inviting. So, I let my hostess show me to my table and sat down. I didn't bother to check the menu-I knew exactly what to order. I stared out the window, listening to the raindrops fall on the windows.

"Bella?" I heard an excited voice call. I considered turning and running away, but I decided against it. Instead, I turned towards the voice with a fake smile plastered on my face.

"Tyler!" I shouted in mock joy. I stood up as Tyler Crowley made his way to my table.

Tyler had moved to Seattle a few months ago. He sometimes e-mailed Mike and Eric about his new job at an Italian restaurant and all the "hot chicks" he saw everyday, but I had no idea that he had been referring to this particular restaurant. If I had, I would have stayed away-Tyler was still hoping that I would change my mind and go out with him.

"Hey, Bella! What are you doing here?" Tyler asked, pulling me into a bone-crushing hug.

"I'm on my way to the airport, but I stopped by because I was so hungry," I said, hoping Tyler would catch the hint and take my order, but he didn't. He started talking about his new school, friends, and other things that I couldn't care less about.

I listened to him for a while, but when I checked my watch and saw that I had to leave now if I wanted to buy a burger or something else to eat before my flight, I interrupted.

"Tyler, I'm really sorry, but I have to go. My flight is in an hour," I lied a bit, desperate to get out.

"Oh! Have I been talking that long? Well, I guess I'll have to let you go, but promise me that you'll catch a movie with me when I visit Forks, okay?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah, sure. Bye, Tyler!" I waved, then rushed out.

As I waited in line for the drive-thru at McDonalds. I checked my phone for any missed calls or texts. There were five unread texts from Jacob.

_Bella, baby, I'm so sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to get mad like that. Please forgive me._

_Love, Jake._

I sighed and opened the next one.

_Bella? Please text me back._

_Love, Jake._

I started to read the next text, but the line moved, and I had to get my food. I parked on the street and checked my phone again as I ate my burger.

_Bella, I'm coming to see you right now._

The fourth text had abbreviations and errors-Jacob had been very rushed.

_Bells wher r u? i dont c any1 in the house. txt me bak NOW_

The last text had been sent about two and a half hours ago.

_Bel i went 2 c charlie cuz u werent answerin n he says ur on ur way to seattle. y didnt u tell me? im coming. don go yet. plz._

I froze. He was on his way here? And if he had left about two and a half hours ago, he could be here already, with his crazy driving. Well, I would try my best to get to the airport before him. He wouldn't be able to catch me in the middle of the crowd in the airport.

I started the engine and drove as fast as possible to the airport. I drove around the parking lot much faster than I normally would have and almost bumped into a few cars. I finally found a parking space after almost half an hour of searching, and cut the engine. I climbed out of the truck and walked to the other side to get my bags.

As I walked through the doors of the airport, I thought I saw a familiar Volkswagen in my peripheral vision. I panicked. Was Jacob here already?

I practically ran through the airport, bumping into people and apologizing. When I finally got to security, I realized that I didn't have my small backpack with me. I spun around, hoping to see it nearby.

I sighed a sigh of relief when I saw the small brown backpack a few yards in front of me. It was on the floor, and if I didn't rescue it right now, someone would step on it for sure.

I grabbed my suitcase and fought my way to my backpack. When I was merely a few feet away from it, a hand emerged out of the crowd and picked it up. I froze for a moment until I realized that the hand didn't belong to Edward or Jacob. I unfroze and made my way to my backpack-rescuer.

"Excuse me, I believe that's _my_ backpack you're holding," I said loudly.

The man holding my backpack turned his head towards me. The first thing I noticed about his face was that it was set in a sad expression. He looked like he had not smiled in years. Then, as I stepped right in front of him, I noticed that he was almost as tall as Jacob. I had to crane my neck to look into his melancholy eyes, which were a deep blue. His messy blonde hair looked like he had just gotten out of bed.

The sad man handed me my backpack, then left so abruptly that I didn't even have time to thank him. I stared after his retreating figure until I remembered that Jacob might get here any moment.

After an hour of worrying that Jacob would come find me, I finally found my seat and dropped myself onto the cushions. I sighed contently. I had made it here without any interruptions from Edward or Jacob. No one could stop me from visiting my mom.

"Sir, I don't know how you made it this far without someone stopping you, but I'm afraid I have to," a flight attendant said, and I sighed. Why couldn't people just follow the rules?

"Please, I'll only take a few minutes. My wife just got on this plane because of a stupid misunderstanding. Please let me talk to her," a familiar voice argued. I groaned.

"Sir, please step out. We cannot allow you to get on the plane without a ticket," the flight attendant said, annoyance clear in his voice.

"I'm telling you, my wife is in there. We just came back from our honeymoon, and if you don't let me talk to her, you'll ruin our marriage," Jacob begged.

The flight attendant sighed. "All right. But we can only give you about two minutes because we have to depart."

"Two minutes is enough. Thanks," I could hear the smile in his voice.

I heard no footsteps, but he was in my sight in less than two seconds. I leaned down as far as possible in my seat, but he caught my eyes. His smile was relieved and victorious - he thought he could convince me to go back home with him.

He walked over to me in three, long strides and sat down on the empty seat next to me. I looked straight away, refusing to meet the gaze I could feel burning a hole on the side of my head.

"Mrs. Black," he said loudly, making sure that the flight attendances hovering around us heard, "why did you leave your husband like that?"

"I see you've been fantasizing again, Mr. Black. My surname is not Black, and it will never be," I said just as loudly.

He sighed. "I had to make up an excuse good enough to talk to you," he said in a normal voice. "I had to stop you from going to Florida."

I was suddenly angry. I was just going to see my mom, and all the important men in my life were so strongly against it. Didn't they ever think about how much I missed her? Besides, Edward and Jacob were the reasons why I suddenly decided to see my mom. How dare they try to interefere with the plans I had made to get away from _them_?

"Jacob," I said clearly, trying to control my temper, "I am going to go see my mom for a week. No one can stop me."

"Bella," Jacob begged, grasping my hands, "please don't leave. I know I was wrong to behave like that yesterday, but I just couldn't help it. Please don't go. I had our spring break all planned. Please?"

I turned to him reluctantly, and immediately wished that I hadn't. His deep, big, brown eyes were pleading with me, and I knew that he would win me over in exactly one minute if I didn't look away. I looked at the little screen on the back of the seat in front of me and closed my eyes. "Go home, Jacob."

Jacob grabbed my arms roughly. Coincedentally, he grabbed the part where he had hit yesterday and left a huge, gross-looking bruise. I flinched away, and rubbed the soft spot gently, hissing in pain.

"What's wrong, Bella? Are you hurt?" Jacob grabbed my arm and pushed the sleeves up, against my objections. He gasped. "W-who did that?"

I looked away, mumbling, "No one."

"Bella, answer truthfully. Did I do this to you?"

"No," I mumbled again.

Jacob let go of my arm in exchange for my face. "Bella, did I do that?"

I tried to look away, but his hold was too strong. I avoided my eyes as I repeated, "No, Jacob, you didn't."

Jacob let go of my face, and stood up. I looked up, surprised. I thought I'd never get him to leave.

"Jacob?"

"I promised I would never hurt you. And look at what I've done? Even the bloodsucker hasn't done any serious physical damage on you. And I d-did," he stuttered.

"Jacob," my voice was reprimanding now.

"No, Bella. I'm a monster, and no one can argue with that." With that, Jacob ran out of my sight.

I leaned back in my seat. After a few minutes of battling with myself, I decided that defending Jacob from himself was more important than visiting my mother. My mother wouldn't do anything too stupid just because I couldn't make it, but Jacob certainly would. I got up and walked towards the door, only to see that the door was firmly closed.

I turned to the closest flight attendance. "Excuse me, sir, I would like to get off this plane."

"I'm sorry, miss, but we can't do that. We're already a but delayed because of the little scene with you and your husband, and we can't afford to lose any more time," he answered sternly, leaving no room for arguments.

I sat back down in my seat, leaned back, and closed my eyes, but I knew that I wouldn't get any sleep on this flight.

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**_Ooh, who's the mystery backpack-rescuer?_**

**_P.S. I haven't updated because I was hoping for more reviews. Maybe I should stop writing this story? I mean, I love writing it, but if you guys don't like it . . . Just let me know what you think. Thanks!_**


	10. Anthony

**Hello, everybody. I received a few reviews asking me to continue with the story, so I will. Just to let you know, there's a few chapters left in this story, and then I will be moving onto another story that I've been dying to write.**

**Does Twilight belong to me? No. –Pout—**

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I opened my eyes, groaning.

My fifth attempt to get some sleep had been unsuccessful. Every time I almost fell asleep, the picture of Jacob's tortured expression of self-hate flooded my mind, and I woke up again.

I sat up in my seat and turned on the little monitor in front of me.

After searching for a few minutes, I gave up with a sigh. There were cheesy romance movies, horror films, vampire movies, or kid's animations. I didn't feel like listening to music either, so I took off my headphones and leaned back.

As I fidgeted in my seat, my backpack fell off my seat. I reached out to pick it up, but a familiar hand beat me to it. I looked up, surprised, as the backpack-rescuer from the airport handed me my backpack.

"Thank you," I said as I took the backpack from him. "I'm Bella," I added, sticking out my hand.

"You're welcome. I'm Anthony," he murmured, shaking my hand.

"It's nice to meet you. Thanks for saving my backpack earlier, by the way. If you hadn't saved it, I'm sure my backpack would have multiple footprints on it right now."

"No problem."

"I don't mean to bother you, but where are you from?" I asked. I wasn't usually the prying type, but I needed someone to distract me from my thoughts.

"Port Angeles."

"Oh, I live in Forks with my dad. You may not have heard of it because it's such a tiny town—"

"Don't try to avoid thinking about your husband. It'll hurt you more in the end," Anthony interrupted.

I gaped at him, not sure how I should answer to that. Anthony stared back at me with those unhappy, blue eyes of his silently. Something in his eyes told me that he knew what he was talking about.

"You heard, huh?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Has something similar happened to you before?" I said solemnly.

He paused for a moment, deliberating. He nodded slightly a moment later.

"What happened?

He sighed, dropping his gaze. I immediately regretted asking when I saw how my question made him even more dejected.

"You don't have to answer. I'm sorry I asked," I said quickly. He didn't look up.

"Anthony?" I leaned over to touch his cheek. He raised his head quickly, surprised. I took my hand back, blushing.

"My wife and I were high school sweethearts. I proposed at the graduation party I was hosting. In our second year of college, she told me that a baby was on the way. I could support us financially with the money I had inherited from my grandfather, and we couldn't wait. We started decorating for the nursery the day she told me the news.

"Eight weeks later, I finally finished the crib that I had built from scratch. I had always loved to build things, and the thought of building the thing that our baby would be sleeping in was irresistible. My wife loved to watch me work, and she took pictures of me building the crib everyday. She told me that it was for the scrapbook she was making for our baby.

"When I was finishing the crib, my wife was upstairs, taking a warm shower for relaxation because she wasn't feeling too well. I remember running upstairs to tell her that it was finally finished. She told me that she would join me in the yard as soon as possible.

"As she was walking downstairs, she tripped. She had always been a clumsy person, which is why I had always accompanied her on the stairs. I was busy admiring my work that day that I forgot," Anthony paused. He looked at me.

"Well, to be honest, I thought just one time would be alright. I didn't expect anything to happen. I was wrong.

"She fell from the top. I sensed it before she fell. I sensed that something bad would happen. I ran to her as soon as possible, but it was too late. When I got to her, she was screaming in pain and yelling, 'Our baby, our baby!'

"I got her to the hospital as soon as possible, but it was too late. My wife only had one minor physical injury on her wrist, but the wound of losing her baby was . . .

"She was very depressed. She stopped going to school. I got home one day to see her outside with a cigarette in hand. My innocent angel was smoking.

"We had our first fight that night. We had never fought before. Of course, when were decorating our baby's nursery, we fought over what color we should paint it, but nothing more serious than that. This fight was nasty. We told each other things that we wouldn't have even thought about one another before the miscarriage.

"She didn't smoke anymore. At least, I didn't find any evidence proving that she did. She was still depressed, but we didn't fight again.

"A few years passed. We weren't the happy couple we used to be, but we weren't an arguing couple. My third year in college came and went, and I was in my senior year when it happened.

"A female friend in one of my classes picked me up one night for a party because my car battery was dead. I asked my wife if she wanted to come, but she refused, saying that she was tired.

"I intended to come home before midnight like I usually did, but the friend that gave me a ride wanted to stay a while longer. I tried calling my wife to let her know that I would be home a bit later than usual, but her cell phone was off.

"When we finally got home around two in the morning, I found my wife on the couch with a beer in hand. She yelled at me for coming home late and accused me of cheating on her with my ride. I denied, of course, but I wasn't as cool-headed as usual because I was worn out. We had our second major fight that night.

"After that night, we fought almost every night. We yelled at each other and brought up every single mistake that the other had made.

"A few months later, she suggested a divorce. I was dumbstruck because although I knew how unhappy we were right now, I thought we could work it out after I graduated, when I had some peace. I tried to be nicer, but she was still drinking every night, and didn't cooperate with me.

"She told me that she wanted a divorce in a few weeks. I tried to push it back, but she was stubborn. In one month, we were no longer a married couple.

"I still have her number, but I don't think she wants to talk to me. I still see her sometimes with some other guys at the college we both attended when I go there to talk to some of my old professors. She seems happy enough," Anthony finished with a sigh.

"If it isn't too much to ask, when exactly did this happen?" I whispered.

Anthony leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes. "I signed the final divorce papers last May."

I bit my lip, but I couldn't resist the temptation to ask the question. "What do you think I should do?"

He didn't answer. It looked like he had dozed off, so I leaned back in my own seat and closed my eyes.

As I was slipping into unconsciousness, I heard him get up. He leaned down, and my eyes snapped open in surprise.

"When you go back home, talk to him about the reason for your fight," he whispered into my ear, straightened up, then walked down the hall to the bathroom.

I closed my eyes, and finally fell asleep while trying to guess Anthony's ex-wife's name.

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_**JPOV**_

Bella tried to hide that she was not completely over the bloodsucker. Outsiders didn't notice the discomfort and pain it caused her to be reminded of them because of her well-practiced act. She never wrapped her arms around her torso as if to hold herself together or flinched or even allowed any change in her expression. She probably thought I believed her, just like everyone else.

But I didn't.

At first, I did buy it. It wasn't easy to detect the change in her because I concentrated too much on the fact that she wasn't depending on her arms to hold herself together at the mere thought of them. However, as time went on and I got used to her tough act, I noticed that her eyes tightened slightly and that she became a bit too cheerful when they were mentioned.

This was why I had flared up when Bella stared at _him_ with eyes that told me everything I needed to know. Bella had never stopped loving the vampire.

Which meant she was going to get hurt again when he left. I would have to pick up the pieces of her heart and get beack with her knowing that I would never be the one she loved best. I would always tie with the bloodsucker.

I had been worrying about this ever since Bella kissed me that day in her truck. When I found out that my worries were true - too true - I had snapped and hit Bella like that.

Still, I regretted my violent actions more than anything. I was disgusted with myself.

I started the Rabbit's engine. I leaned against the window, staring at nothing in particular. My wolf instincts caught the green of the forests behind the airport, and I felt an urge to just run into the trees and phase. To excape from this emotional, human mind.

Then I realized that there was nothing stopping me from doing just that.

I cut the engine quickly, already getting ready to phase into the more comfortable, careless wolf inside of me. I ran across the parking lot, ignoring the fact that the rain was soaking up my shirt and making it cling to my body. I could feel eyes on me, but I ignored them, too.

I ran around the airport. The airport was pretty big, and it was a long run around it, but it didn't didn't bother me. I jogged easily into the trees, letting the airport and my disasterous attempt at bringing Bella back home disappear behind me.

When I was far enough into the forest, I took off my clothes and laid them in front of a tree. Without hesitation, I let the anger take over my senses. It felt natural now, seeing my red, wolfy form in the puddle that was collecting water that made it between the dense leaves and branches.

The pain of causing Bella pain subsided. It pleased me to know that I had a way to get away from the pain, but the happiness lasted only for a moment.

_Jake, bro, what's wrong? _I heard Embry's anxious thoughts. I groaned.

I tried to block my thoughts from them, but it was a wasted attempt.

_Bella's on her way to Florida? She's so lucky! Why didn't she tell us last week when she came over to Emily's? _Seth yelled loudly in his head.

_Leave me alone, _I thought angrily_. _This was one bad side of phasing-if someone else was in their wolf form, it was impossible to get any privacy.

I broke into a run, hoping to put enough distance between me and the rest of the pack to break the mental connection between us. I didn't care if I had to go as far as the middle of Canada. I needed to be alone.

I left the pain, anger, anxiety, and confusion behind me as I sprinted into the endless green surrounding me, desperate for escape.

* * *

_**EPOV**_

"Alice, you can't go see Bella at Florida right now. I still haven't worked out this whole problem yet!" I shouted angrily down the phone.

"Edward, that's exactly why we need to go see her. You need some help! You can't work this out alone. And Edward, you aren't the only one who loves her," Alice's high voice chimed.

Alice was my sister. Therefore, my family would probably be very, very ashamed of me if I lost my temper and tore her apart into pieces, but the idea sounded so perfect and enticing right now.

I paused for a sixteenth of a second to choose one good reason why Alice and Emmett shouldn't go to Florida out of my one hundred different options. "Alice, don't you know anything about Florida? It's sunny there all the time!"

"We can manage, Edward. Seriously, you've got to think of better excuses," Alice snapped. For such a tiny person, Alice could be very controlling and bossy.

I sighed, running my free hand through my hair. "Alice, I want to work this out before any of you see her. You've waited this long; how will a few more months hurt?"

"Edward, Bella isn't listening to you right now. You need us, Emmett and I, to soften her up. It'll only help you."

I gritted my teeth. Alice was right. Bella had grown very close to Emmett and Alice last year. If she met them, she might be more willing to choose me over the dog. The mere thought of her choosing the dog made me want to break something that would give me satisfaction from destroying it, like a car or a house.

I remembered the last time I had destroyed something because I was frustrated about this situation. I had been driving the rented car when Alice called me to ask if she could come to see Bella for the one hundred ninety-sixth time. I had gotten out of the car, lifted it above my head, and threw it back onto the asphalt road in frustration. Paying for the car didn't bother me, but the fact that it was a car I had liked enough to want to buy one myself bothered me a bit.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on not destroying anything.

"No," I growled when I had a bit more control over myself. I heard the phone being snatched out of Alice's hands.

"Eddie, bro, you've got to do something about that big ego of yours, and start listening to Alice. She's the one that sees the future, remember?" Emmett chuckled. Of course, only Emmett could find this argument amusing.

I frowned. "Emmett and Alice, you two will stay in Maine until I call you. This all happened because of my idiotic mistake, and I will fix it. I need to. So will you two please stop trying to interfere? Please," I begged.

I only heard silence on the other side.

"Fine," Emmett and Alice mumbled together.

"Thank you," I sighed, snapping my phone shut before they could ask me again.

I laid back on the grass, letting the rain soak my clothes. The cost of everything I was wearing right now was probably over eight hundred dollars, but I couldn't care less. Alice would love the excuse for an extra shopping trip anyway.

The last time I had been here without Bella was a few days after the disasterous birthday party Alice had planned for Bella. I had been trying to make the right decision for Bella's safety. I had been trying to plan a way to make her believe that I didn't love her anymore so she could move on after I left.

The plan had worked, but not the way I had pictured it. In my head, Bella was married to a human man and had human children. In reality, Bella was dating a young werewolf and would have puppies if they ever had children. What if the dog imprinted after Bella married him? Their family and marriage would fall apart and hurt Bella deeply.

Was this why I was trying to win her back?

I immediately answered "yes," in my head, but I knew that it wasn't totally true. I knew deep inside that I was being selfish and wanted Bella back for my own good. I wanted to change her and live my whole life with her. Now that I had experienced what it was like to live without her, I never wanted to experience it again.

I got up slowly and walked to the red swing I had made when Bella and I were still happily together.

_Bella, come back soon_, I thought as closed my eyes, wishing I could sleep.

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**I did some different point of views in this chapter. I don't know if I got it right, so please LEAVE REVIEWS!**

_**(Please visit my profile for a summary of a new story I might start writing soon, and tell me if you want me to write it!)**_


	11. Alice and Jasper

**I want to take some time to apologize to all my readers. I know I haven't updated in months. I'm very sorry. I had a very, very busy summer this year, and I had barely any time to rest. I had to take an advanced math class that sucked up all my energy. Then something happened to the Internet connection and I could only type my chapters. It was so frustrating! Again, I'm very sorry.**

**There will be three more chapters and an epilogue in the story. Then, I will choose one of the FanFiction ideas floating around my head for my second story. I can assure you that it will be better than this first story, so please don't hesitate to read my next story once I put it up.**

**You should have this drilled into your head by now, but just in case . . . Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer!**

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Two soft hands shook my left arm gently. I blinked a few times, and Anthony's amused face swam into view.

"What do you want from me?" I whined sleepily.

Anthony smiled, revealing his pearly white, even teeth. It was my first time seeing him smile, and I couldn't deny that his smile was quite handsome. "Bella, the plane's going to land soon. You need to put on your seat belt."

I looked around and saw that the seat belt sign on the ceiling was flashing annoyingly. I frowned and closed my eyes. "I want to sleep," I complained like a child. "Put it on for me."

I peeked and saw that Anthony was a bit surprised by the whiny, childish side of me. I was usually so composed and mature. "Okay," he agreed finally and reached for my seatbelt. After completing this mission, he sat down in his own seat.

I reluctantly straightened up. I couldn't fall asleep now that he had woken me up. I ran my hands through the wild tangles in my hair, groaning. When I was pretty sure my hair wasn't sticking out in random places anymore, I turned to Anthony. I blushed when I saw that he had been staring at me with his chin on his hand.

"I never got the chance to ask earlier, but why are you going to Jacksonville?" I asked curiously. The question had popped up in my head as I was trying to tame my hair.

"I'm visiting my uncle. He got married about two years ago, but I never got to meet his wife because I was too busy."

"Are you guys close?"

"He had just started college when I was little, so I didn't get to see him much. Then I had to go live with him for a few months when I was in middle school, and we bonded over baseball. He's more like a brother than an uncle to me."

"Does he play baseball for a living?"

"Yes. I think he's coaching a high school baseball team right now."

My eyes widened. No way. "Anthony, do you know his wife's name?"

He stared at me strangely. I didn't blame him. What kind of a persone asked you to tell them your uncle's wife's name on the day you met them? "Renee. Renee Dwyer."

I felt my jaw drop. "You're Phil's nephew? I'm his wife's daughter!"

"What? Are you sure?"

I laughed at his incredulous expression. "I think I know my own mother's name."

As we walked out of the plane and went to pick up our luggage, we chatted about Phoenix. Anthony told me that he hadn't met Renee before because he was in the hospital on the wedding day. I told him that I practically lived in the hospital and that it was a miracle I wasn't in a hospital with him that day.

When I turned on my phone, I saw that I had a new text from an unknown number. I opened it.

It read—

_Bella! It's Alice! I know you aren't happy with me for leaving without a goodbye, but Edward thought it was better that way. Please don't be mad! I love you and miss you! I know you're in the airport in Jacksonville. I hope you don't think I'm a stalker, but Jasper and I are here, too! Don't worry about the sun. It's dark outside right now, and we'll be careful during our stay. I think I see you! Turn around!_

I turned quickly, bumping into Anthony in the process. I narrowed my eyes at him when I realized he had been reading my text over my shoulder. He ran through his hair sheepishly, avoiding my glare. He was saved when a small figure wrapped her arms around me, knocking all the air out of my lungs.

When she let go because I gasped out that I couldn't breathe, we started squealing like little girls. I could tell that Jasper was trying him best to calm us down, but he wasn't doing much. He gave up in the end, smiling at us.

Alice literally bouncing with joy. Some people stared at her as she hopped up and down in place. "Bella, I missed you so much!" Then she gave me another tight hug. I gasped, and she let go, looking apologetic.

"I missed you, too, Alice. And you, too, Jasper," I said sincerely, turning to him. Jasper looked startled.

"So you're not mad for what happened at your birthday party?" he asked.

"Of course not. Please don't tell me that you've been blaming yourself all this time."

Alice flashed a smug smile at Jasper. "I told you that she wouldn't be mad. I can't believe you, of all people, bet against me! Now you owe Emmett another Jeep."

"I'm still sorry, Bella. And thank you. My, er, experience at your party has helped me with my control immensely. I'm not uncomfortable doing this anymore." Jasper took three steps towards me and wrapped his arms around me. He let go a second later and glanced at Alice. She smiled proudly at him.

As Jasper took a step away from me, Anthony cleared his throat. I looked at him apologetically. I had forgotten that he was even here because of my excitement from seeing Alice and Jasper again.

"I'm sorry, Anthony," I apologized. He smiled at me to let me know that he wasn't angry. I introduced him to Alice and Jasper, and we started to walk towards the exit together.

"Bella!" I heard my mom call.

I looked around, smiling when I found my mom dragging Phil behind her. "Mom!" I ran to her and pulled her into a tight hug, while Phil and Anthony embraced in a similar way.

After we all pulled away, my mom finally noticed Alice and Jasper standing in the background. I watched as Alice told Renee that she and Jasper were here to sell a house they had bought a while ago. Renee didn't seem too bothered, but she didn't look happy either. But as I felt a wave of strong happiness Reene's face cleared.

We separated at the parking lot when Alice told us that she and Jasper had to go rent a car. As she embraced me, she whispered, "I'll see you at your room as soon as I find a suitable car," in my ear.

My mom insisted on taking us for a tour around the house before showing us to the rooms we would be staying in. I would stay in the room that should've been mine and Anthony would be staying in the guestroom. I ate my dinner slowly, and helped Phil clear the table as Renee and Anthony got to know each other.

"So, Bella, do you feel the need to drown yourself in a bucket of ice yet?" Phil joked.

I smiled. "No, not yet."

After I washed the dishes, I walked to by room to get my pyjamas and toiletries to take a shower. I didn't take very long; I was eager to see Alice again, who was probably in my room by now after renting some expensive sportscar. I wondered if Jasper would come with her. It was nice to be near him without having to tempt him with my blood. I had hated causing him discomfort every time I went over to the Cullen's.

In my rush to get to my room, I didn't notice somebody was outside the door and bumped into them. I looked up to apologize and saw Anthony looking at my pyjamas. I blushed. I was wearing a brown tank top with turqoise shorts.

"Nice," he commented, sounding a lot like Edward when he had first seen me in my holey shirt and sweats. At least this outfit didn't look like it had been chewed by a rat.

"Thanks, and I'm really sorry for bumping into you like that. I'm kind of in a rush to get to bed. Sleeping in a plane wasn't very comfortable," I grimaced, remembering how my back had ached for sleeping in an uncomfortable position for a few hours.

"Don't worry about it. Renee already told me about your clumsiness. And do you always talk when you sleep?"

I stared at him, horrified. "Please don't tell me I talked on the plane."

"I would, but that'd be lying. Who's Jacob and Edward?"

"Edward is - Alice and Jasper's brother. I used to, er, date him." I had never thought of Edward and I as just two teens dating. We had had so much more."And Jacob is the guy you saw on the plane. I've been dating him for a few months, but I don't know what we are anymore," I sighed.

"You sounded like you were torn between the two of them," he noted.

"I am. Edward left when his dad was offered a job in L.A. He's come back for me, and I don't know if I should choose him or Jacob."

Anthony pondered this. "Well, I haven't met Edward yet, so I can't really help, but I'm sure Jacob is in love with you. He looked at you the way Lynn used to look at me."

"Thank you, Anthony, for these helpful hints right outside a bathroom," I giggled.

"You're welcome. I'm always happy to help," he chuckled.

As I walked to the room, I bumped into Phil. I apologized, blushing a deep shade of red. Phil laughed and said that he was fine. He wanted to talk to me about something important, and I assured him I would see him as soon as I put away my things.

Alice was not in my room yet, so I went to the kitchen for some water as I waited for Phil. I could hear Anthony and Renee in the living room, watching TV together. They seemed to be getting along fine.

Phil came into the kitchen a few minutes later, and we sat down in the dining room. I waited patiently as he tried to tell me what he needed to say.

"Bella." I turned to him. "Did Tony tell you about Lynn?"

I nodded. "In great detail on the plane. Why?"

"Well, let me just say that I am very close to Anthony. He's almost like a younger brother to me. This is why I was almost as sad as he was when Lynn left him. It broke my heart to see him never smiling or talking. It was like he had died inside. Even when I went to see him in Texas when he was visiting my brother just a few months ago, I didn't see him smile even once. This is why I was so shocked when I saw him smiling with you today at the airport."

I frowned. "So, what you're saying is?"

"Just remember that you two _aren't_ blood-related," Phil smiled.

I blushed. "Phil, I kind of have a boyfriend right now."

He blinked. "Oh, I thought after the Cullen - never mind. Just think about it, alright?" He stood up.

"Sure," I lied, standing up with him.

"Goodnight, Bella."

"Goonight, Phil."

I walked quickly to my room, hoping to see Alice on my bed, waiting for me.

I opened my door quickly, smiling when I saw that the lights were on. The person standing at the window turned to me with a huge smile on her face.

"Hey, Alice!"

"Hey, Bella."

"Did you rent a nice car?"

"Yes. It's a Porshe 911 Turbo, and it's - never mind. So, wondering why I'm in Florida?"

"I thought Edward was supposed to be the mind reader."

She grinned. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk about. And I thought I was supposed to be the one who could see the future."

My grin faded.

She frowned at my obvious desire to avoid this subject. "Bella, I'm here to help you see that Edward would be better for you than that mu - Jacob."

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**How was that? Please review!**


	12. Lies and Apologies

**Hello, everybody! I can't talk for too long right now. I am supposed to be going over my textbooks (bleh) before school starts, but that seems too boring when I have a laptop right in front of me. I'm going to be in so much trouble if my mom catches me. I'm risking my freedom to update another chapter for you guys, so please leave reviews!**

**I own Twilight! Oh, wait, that's just the name of my imaginary cat. (I know, I'm crazy.) I do not own Twilight that you guys are thinking about. _That_ particular Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.**

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I sat down and patted the space next to me. Alice approached me cautiously, watching my response.

"Well?" she inquired after a few minutes of waiting patiently.

I looked up into Alice's dark gold eyes. She was monitoring my every move and reading every emotion that flashed across my face before I got a better control over it. I knew Alice wasn't someone who could be fooled easily. Seven months ago, I would have laughed at anyone who even tried.

However, I was more skilled in lying now. I had fooled countless friends, family, and even Jacob into believing that I was completely over Edward. Of course, I might have suceeded only because I believed that I was over him myself. I knew that there was a very good chance of failing, but I had to try.

First, I focused on changing my face back to the way it had been before she had told me why she was in my room. Alice knew me well enough to read what I was feeling by looking at my eyes, so I forced every emotion but indifference to leave. Next, I repeated, "Don't blush, don't blush, don't blush," in my head. Finally, I took a small breath to calm myself down.

Looking down at my hands to feign remorse, I whispered, "I'm sorry, Alice, but I don't think you'll be able to influence my decision."

"Why?" she demanded.

I got off the bed and went through my make up bag to look for a hairband. I had learned from past experiences that I couldn't keep a blush out of my face when someone was staring at me the way Alice was staring right now. I saw the black hairband I was looking for a few seconds after I started the search, but I pretended not to notice it. When I couldn't put off anymore, I pulled the hairband out of the bag, pulled my almost-dry hair into a pony tail, took a deep breath, and turned to face her. "Because I've already made a decision."

Many expressions crossed Alice's face. Shock, disbelief, denial, indecision, and a bit of understanding before she suppressed her emotions with indifference. "You have?"

"Yes, I have." Keep the answers as short as possible, Bella.

"Oh. Well, who's the lucky guy?" she pressed without much interest.

I worked on keeping the blush away. I was close to winning her over, and I wouldn't let a blush ruin everything. I tried to sound sorry, and I was sure I did okay. "I'm very sorry, Alice. You're my best friend, but I really think Edward and Jacob deserve to know first."

She stared at me, and I stared back. I had almost won her over. Just a few seconds . . .

"Fine," she said at last. I didn't sigh in relief. I had messed up quite a few lies by doing so. Instead, I sat back down on my bed, grabbed the pillow, and hugged it like I would with a giant stuffed teddy bear.

When Alice continued to stay silent, I grew a bit nervous. What if she was still questioning my lie? What if she convinced me that Edward was right for me, but after becoming a vampire I realized Jake was who I should have chosen? I had to make this decision on my own.

To stop the reconsidering Alice was probably doing in her head, I asked, "How many nights are you staying? Not that I want you to leave."

Alice smiled at me. I almost sighed, relieved, but caught myself just in time. "Jasper and I are leaving at six in the morning tomorrow."

"Does anyone know you guys are here?"

"No. Everyone else was hunting and I knew they wouldn't get back for another two days. If we leave tomorrow morning, we can get back home and dispose of all the evidence that might give away the fact that Jasper and I were visiting you in Jacksonville right in time."

I frowned. "Why didn't you tell them?"

"If I told them and Edward came back or something, it would make him a bit suspicious to hear all of us trying to keep him out of our heads," she rolled her eyes.

"Oh," I answered lamely. She didn't say anything.

A loud knock made me jump on the bed, jostling it, but Alice wasn't surprised at all. She didn't even blink! Oh, wait, psychic. Yeah.

"Bella?" I heard Renee call right outside the door. I turned to Alice to tell her to hide, but she wasn't next to me on the bed like she had been a second ago.

"Come in, Mom," I called back.

The door opened a tiny crack, and Renee poked her head through it. "I was just wondering if you wanted any ice cream. It's hotter than ususal tonight and I didn't want you to feel the need to book a plane ticket out of here by tomorrow."

"That's fine, Mom," I lied easily. I actually wanted ice cream very badly. Jacksonville felt like a huge, steaming bathroom after living in Forks for such a long time. "I'll get some for myself later if I need to."

I expected her, or more like wanted her, to leave me alone, but she only opened the door a bit more to squeeze through the opening. As she sat down at the foot of my bed, I joked, "Mom, I won't kill you for opening the door. You didn't have to squeeze through a tiny opening like that."

Renee smiled. "I know. I've been working out over the past few weeks and I wanted to see how much stomach fat I had tightened up."

I jokingly pushed her stomach. "Mom, you don't need to lose any weight. And I'm not just saying that because I'm your daughter."

"I didn't say I needed to lose stomach fat. I just wanted to get some abs."

I laughed. "Sure, Mom. Let's see how long this one lasts."

Renee pouted for a second, but brightened up when she saw my make up bag. She jumped up, ran to retrieve it, opened it, and gasped. "Bella!" she exclaimed.

"What?"

She just looked at me. "You've finally learned the value of make up! Oh, honey, I'm so proud of you!" she yelled, giving me a hug. "How long have you been wearing make up?"

I sat her down on the bed and told her to calm down. "Mom, it's just make up." When I saw that she was about to object, I added, "I've been wearing some ever since my first date with Jacob."

Renee smiled widely. "I would really love to meet Jacob someday. Actually, when fly to Forks for your graduation, I have to meet him!" she giggled.

I smiled uncomfortably, but she didn't notice, too excited of the fact that her daughter was finally wearing make up. In a way, I was relieved. I didn't have to explain that Edward had showed up at the movies and asked me to take me back. And not to forget the fact that my current boyfriend had been born with a hatred towards the Cullens.

When I didn't answer, Renee snapped her fingers in front of my face. I blinked. "Earth to Bella?"

"I'm sorry. I'm just really tired," I said, faking a yawn. I had practiced fake-yawning to get out of talking to Charlie at night when I had done something wrong. Like running into a tree on my bike to hear Edward's voice or something. I had to answer to his questions in the morning, but my "sleepiness" bought me some time to come up with an excuse.

"Oh, I should let you sleep." Renee got up and walked towards the lamp. "We can do something fun tomorrow. You, me, Phil, and Anthony."

"Sure," I agreed, getting under the covers. Renee leaned down to drop me a kiss on my forehead.

"Goodnight," I whispered as she turned off the lamp.

"Goodnight, sweetie," she murmured, closing the door behind her.

Everything was still in the room for a second. Then, I heard the click of the lamp being turned on. I looked up, but didn't see Alice anywhere near the nightstand.

"Okay. How long are you planning to keep this up?" Alice said from the foot of my bed, making me jump. I straightened up, staring at her with confusion in my eyes.

Alice sighed. "Bella, I can't deny that you've gotten much, much better at lying, but you can't fool me. Especially not when I can see the future." I groaned. Damn it. I had forgotten all about that. "And just to let you know, your future is not set."

I didn't answer, leaning back and closing my eyes.

"Alice."

"Yes, Bella?"

"Can you promise me something?"

"No, Bella. You need to talk about this with someone."

I blinked at her. How did she know what - oh yeah, psychic. When I recovered from my shock, I said, "Alice, I really appreciate you coming all the way to Florida to convince me to choose Edward, but I have to make this decision on my own. What if I choose Edward, but realize that Jacob is the one I should have chosen when it's too late? And what if I only chose Edward in the first place because of what you told me, and not what I believed?"

I took deep breaths to calm myself down. I had gone a bit overboard with my outburst. "I'm sorry," I added to break the tense silence.

Alice shook her head. "No, you're right. I can't make these decisions for you. You have to make them without anyone bothering you about who you should choose. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You only wanted to help me. We can talk about something else," I smiled hesitantly.

She frowned. "I would love to chat, but I have to go."

"What?" I almost shouted. Alice had put her finger over her lips right before I opened my mouth. "You're leaving right now? I thought you weren't leaving until tomorrow morning," I said sadly. Who knew if Alice and I would meet again? If I didn't choose Edward, I would probably never see her again.

"Well, Jasper wants to talk to you and then he has to go hunt. I have to go with him. I'm sorry, Bella."

"Jasper wants to talk to me? Right now?"

She nodded. "He's right outside the window. Would you like him to come in?"

"Wait. I want to ask you one last thing," I whispered. I knew Jasper would still hear, but I wanted to keep this question between Alice and me as much as possible.

Alice smiled. "Of course, Bella. Even if you don't choose Edward, we'll still come see you every once in a while. We can exchange e-mail addresses. It's just . . . you won't be seeing me as often as you would if you chose Edward."

"Wouldn't it be hard for you to be my friend when I'm dating a werewolf, your mortal enemy, after breaking your brother's heart?"

Alice's smile didn't disappear, like I had expected it to, but it did get smaller, more forced. "It won't be easy, but we'll understand Bella. Don't worry." She leaned over to give me a hug that I returned wholeheartedly.

"Thank you, Alice, for being such a good friend," I whispered.

She got up. "You make one hell of a friend, too, Bella." We giggled. "I'll send Jasper in," she said, walking over to the window, squeezing through the small space gracefully, and disappearing into the dark.

I sat back down on my bed, waiting for Jasper. I giggled quietly, picturing Jasper trying to make it through the small hole of a window. I jumped three feet in the air when I heard a voice right behind me.

"What's so funny?"

"Jasper! You almost gave me a heart attack!" I whisper-shouted. He chuckled.

I crossed my arms and sat back down on the bed when I realized that I was standing up. Jasper came to sit next to me. "Why are you here?" I asked, a bit harsher than I had intended to, but he deserved it for scaring the crap out of me.

Even in the dim light coming from the small lamp, I could see his mouth pull down at the ends infinitesimally. I continued to stare at him, waiting patiently for him to speak.

"To apologize."

"For what? Scaring the hell out of me when I was least expecting it?"

"No."

"Then?"

"Bella, I know that you don't blame me for Edward's decision to leave Forks. But, no matter what you think, I need to apologize. Because if I had just hunted on the morning of your birthday, I might not have gotten as wild as I did at the sight of your blood. And maybe, if I had practiced being around you a bit more, I might have gotten used to the smell of your blood. I could have walked out of the room like Alice, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, and Edward did if I had just been more careful," he whispered the end.

"Jasper," I said sternly. He looked up, surprised by the tone of my voice, probably. "You have to stop blaming yourself. I can tell by the way you apologized just now that you've been thinking about this for a long time. To be completely honest, I think that's stupid. It's not my fault I'm human and it's not your fault you're a vampire. Please, please grasp that. You can't blame yourself for what you did because what you did was perfectly normal for a vampire. Please, Jasper, let this go," I pled.

He stared at me for a long time. I stared back fiercely. He needed to understand this.

Finally, he smiled. "Thank you, Bella."

I smiled back victoriously. I knew Alice would want to thank me for a good ten minutes for doing this: making Jasper see that it wasn't his fault Edward had left. He would have found some other reason to leave me, I thought bitterly. Jasper looked surprised by my sudden change in emotions, but I just smiled and whispered, "You're welcome."

Jasper seemed to hesitate about something, but when I gave him an encouraging smile, he hugged me tightly for a few short seconds. I returned it cautiously, not wanting to make him comfortable. To be honest, I was also a surprised. I knew Alice was a very hug-loving person, but I had never thought of Jasper as a very "Alice" person. He had always seemed so formal and stiff. I was more than happy to see what Jasper was really like.

When we pulled away, he told me to get under the covers. When I did, he turned off the lamp and whispered, "You would make a great addition to the family," before disappearing out the window.

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**How was that? I know, I know, I changed Jasper's personality a bit. Sorry to those who love Jasper just the way he is in Mrs. Meyer's books. Anyway, PLEASE leave reviews!**


	13. Important Message to All Readers

**Dear Readers,**

**When I first joined Fanfiction, I promised myself that I would never become one of the authors that used a whole chapter for an author's note. I guess "never" isn't a word to be handled lightly.**

**I am writing this author's note because I'm not sure what I want for the ending of this story. So, I will let you, my readers, to choose what you would like to read!**

**1. I can write a final chapter about Edward and Jacob's reactions to Bella's decision, and then write another epilogue which will take place a few years after Bella's huge decision.**

**2. I can just skip onto an epilogue, and make it easy to see what Bella chose. This epilogue will probably be two times longer than the epilogue for the first chapter because I will have to include everything that happened afterwards.**

**I don't really read Private Messages, so please leave your answer as a review for Chapter 13. I would like to have all answers in as soon as possible so I can update the last chapter (or chapters) as soon as possible. Thank you!**

**Sincerely,**

**CrazilyInLove**


	14. Choices

**Hello, everyone. I know I haven't been updating, but that was because my mom caught me on the computer when I was updating the last chapter. I was turning off the computer when she barged in. I wasn't allowed to use the computer at all until right now!**

**My imaginary cat, Twilight, has to share her basket in my head with an imaginary dog named New Moon. I don't think they like sharing the tiny basket. Those two troublemakers belong to me and my imagination, but the published Twilight series does not. They belong to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer.**

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**RPOV**

"I love you, Mom," Bella whispered in my ear as she wrapped her arms around me in a tight embrace.

"I love you, too, honey. You have no idea how much I'll miss you," I whispered in her ear, my voice cracking in the end as a few traitor tears escaped my eyes.

My always thoughtful daughter pulled away and frowned. "Mom, why are you crying? We're going to see each other in just a few months."

I wiped my tears away. "I'm being silly, aren't I"

"Not being silly—just being a mom," she assured me with a smile.

"It's just so hard not having you to talk to whenever I need to. I thought I'd be used to it by now, but I guess living without your daughter isn't something you can get used to," I confessed.

"But you have Phil," Bella said, confused.

I smiled at her. "There are some things you just can't talk about with your husband. You might understand—you've been dating for a while now." Bella's face dropped a little bit. My smile wiped off my face instantly. "Bella, is there something wrong with your relationship with Jacob?"

Bella's face cleared and it was suddenly too innocent. "What do you mean?"

I studied her face closely. "Bella, I know that something's going on. You've been much too falsely cheerful throughout the week."

Bella chuckled, but it seemed a bit off—forced. "I don't know what you're talking about, Mom."

I knew that Bella was keeping something from me, but I let it go. "You should go now if you don't want to miss your plane. We were supposed to be in a hurry, remember?"

Bella chuckled again, but it was different this time—more natural. "Next time I visit, I'm setting the alarm clocks."

I pulled her in for one last hug, and let her go. She picked up her luggage, smiled at me, and mouthed, "I love you." I did the same, and watched silently as my daughter walked away from me.

When Bella was out of my sight, I made my way back to my car, trying to figure out what she was hiding from me. After recalling everything that happened during Bella's stay, I had come up with nothing more than even more curiosity for what she was hiding.

Finally, deciding she would've told me if it was very important, I let it go. I drove away from the airport, leaving my worries and suspicion behind me.

* * *

**BPOV**

I struggled to make my way out of the airport without moving my twisted ankle too much. Yes, I had managed to twist my ankle on a plane, of all places. I had tripped over a little kid's toys that he had left lying around, and now my poor ankle was throbbing every time I moved it.

A few people had offered help, but I had declined because all the offers were from men whose eyes lingered on parts of my body I preferred to keep away from men's eyes. Every one of them had been persistent, not giving up until I threatened to call the security if they didn't walk away.

I growled in my head as another guy walked over. He had a smug expression on his face that showed me he thought he was the hottest guy in the world. "Would you like some help?" he asked, staring at my chest.

"No, she wouldn't," a voice I hadn't been expecting, answered for me. I jumped, and spun around, clutching my leg.

"Ouch!" I cursed.

"Bella, Bella, Bella. How did you twist your ankle on a plane?"

I glared up at him from the floor. "Shut up and help me up!"

"That's a nice way to talk to your favorite brother, who, by the way, hasn't seen you in months," he answered, crossing his arms.

"Emmett!" I complained.

He laughed loudly, causing a few heads to turn. I screamed as Emmett picked me up in one arm and my bags in the other.

"Let me down!" I screamed, pounding on his back with my fists. "Emmett Cullen! Let me down!"

Emmett turned to the pervert that had been staring at my chest. "I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but if you stare at my little sister like that one more time, you will find yourself in a whole lot of pain. Just thought you'd like to know," he grinned.

The pervert nodded, eyes wide.

He chuckled and continued to walk to his car. When we got to his Audi, he put down gently and started putting my bags in the trunk. After making sure he couldn't see me, I examined my hands. They throbbed from pounding Emmett's rock-hard back, and I was sure I would have bruises by tomorrow.

Emmett got in and started the engine at the same time. Putting on his seatbelt, he turned to grin at me. "So, how did you twist your ankle?"

I scowled. "I tripped," I mumbled, but he must have heard because he started laughing loudly. I bit my lip to stop the rude words I wanted to say to him.

Emmett didn't pay any attention to the road as he examined me closely. "Did Alice tell you how proud she was of your choices in clothes when she saw you in Florida?"

I blinked. "I—I thought you weren't supposed to know about that," I stammered.

Emmett's face hardened. "Well, Alice had a vision of your choice during your flight merely ten feet from Edward. She couldn't hide it and had to spill everything. She wanted to pick you up herself, but Carlisle wanted to talk to her about going somewhere practically on the equator," he explained, suddenly paying more attention to the road.

I stiffened. "How did Edward take it?" I asked reluctantly. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"Not very well. He told me to tell you that he would be at 'the meadow' or something like that. He whispered it as he ran out of the door," he mumbled.

I looked down at my hands. I hadn't wanted him to find out like that, but, selfishly, I was glad that I wouldn't have to be the one delivering the news. I would still have to talk to him, though, and the thought discomforted me.

"Anyway," Emmett started, his tone a tad bit too cheerful, even for him, "Rosalie wants to talk to you after you talk to Edward. She said it's important, so don't try to run away," he warned.

I paled. Why would Rosalie, the only Cullen that hadn't accepted me into the family, want to talk to me at all? Did she hate me even more now that I had broken her brother's heart?

Emmett glanced at me when I didn't answer. He smiled understandingly at my terrified expression. "Look, I know Rosie can be scary when she wants to be, but she didn't sound mad at all when she said she needed to talk to you."

I didn't relax. "Why would she like me any more than she used to when I broke her brother's heart?" I whispered.

Emmett grimaced. I could tell by his distant eyes that he was remembering something that had happened in the past. He didn't say anything for a long time, and I chose not to be the one to break the silence.

We didn't say anything until we got to Forks. I sighed, and he looked at me sympathetically.

"How am I going to tell him?" I panicked.

"Thanks to Alice, Edward already knows about who you chose. You only need to tell him why. Isn't that a bit easier than having to tell him your choice?"

I nodded. "Still, how am I going to do this without breaking his heart all over again?" I cried, my heart racing at a rate of a hundred miles per hour.

"Just keep it simple and gentle. Don't be too blunt." He paused. "That's all I've got."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Jee, thanks. Em. That was a lot of help."

"You're welcome," he chuckled.

I hesitated for a moment, pondering my question. Before I could chicken out, I asked quietly, "Emmett, when I tell Edward, and he's heartbroken, will you guys leave? Will you cut off all connections and hate me for the rest of eternity?"

He frowned, thinking. A long period of silence passed. I started to bite my nails nervously. He was quiet for so long that I wondered if he had heard the question.

"No," he replied finally, and I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. "The family broke apart when we left Forks. Of course, we'll have to leave in a few years, but we won't leave just now. Even if we leave, we'll keep in touch with you and visit once in a while. And you can't seriously be thinking that we'll hate you," he frowned disapprovingly. "We can't hate you for following your heart."

I smiled gratefully. "I guess I knew you wouldn't, but I had to hear you say it."

"So, where do you want me to take you?" Emmett asked.

I hesitated. I could have Emmett drive me and take me to the meadow—it would certainly make it easier for me. However, I didn't want anyone to find out about our meadow if possible. It was a sacred place where I could remember the old days and my first romance. This would make life much harder for me in the next few hours, but I didn't have a choice.

"Emmett, do you think I could borrow someone's car? I really want to get to the meadow alone."

Emmett blinked, but regained his composure quickly. I was surprised. I had thought that he would insist on helping me and my sad twisted ankle to the meadow. "Damn, there goes my opportunity to find out where you two escaped to last summer after dumping human food all over me. But yeah, Jasper would probably let you borrow his car. He got it just last month. It's a new model, and—"

I put up a hand. "Too much information. I don't speak Car, remember?"

He laughed as we pulled into the Cullens' garage. He got out of the car and walked over to a navy-ish black sports car. It looked very fast. I gulped, imagining me crashing the car and Jasper yelling at me in fury. It wasn't very plausible, but possible. Emmett pushed me gently towards the car.

"It won't bite, you know," he chuckled.

I gulped again. "Are you sure Jasper won't mind me driving his new car?"

"He doesn't, so just get in the car, Bella. And by the way, I really like your v-neck!" Alice yelled from somewhere inside the mansion.

"There's your answer," Emmett said, walking towards a corkboard with at least twenty nails on them. Each held up a key. He tossed me one of them, which I let drop to the ground next to me, knowing I would break something if I tried to catch it. I bent down to pick it up, but Emmett beat me to it.

"Jeez, Bella, you really have slow reflexes," he noted, handing the keys to me. "Get in the car. And please try to be gentle," he said.

I grimaced. "I'll try."

* * *

I cursed as another branch slammed into my face. I was now covered in bruises and scratches from my trips and other accidents. I felt a trickle of blood running down my forehead as I pulled the sharp branch away.

I was able to limp for another five minutes before I tripped over a tree root. Stupid things. Weren't they supposed to stay _beneath_ the soil? I struggled to stand up, but I couldn't. My twisted ankle was very painful now from all the strain I had put on it. I sighed. There was only one more thing left for me to do unless I wanted to rot away on this forest floor.

"Edward!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "Edward Cullen!"

A sudden, unnatural breeze told me my savior was here. I looked up into his empty, golden eyes. His face was completely devoid of emotion. I looked at my bloody hands, avoiding meeting his eyes. It wouldn't help me explain myself to him at all.

His cold hand landed on my arm. He pulled me off the dirty floor. We stood there, silent and unmoving, for what seemed like hours. We were both waiting for the other to start talking, but neither of us said anything. I noticed that the forest had gotten darker, scarier.

Still not saying anything, Edward crouched down in front of me. I smiled feebly and climbed onto his back expertly. I distantly remembered the first time he had given me a ride this way. I had been terrified of throwing up on his back.

We were at the meadow in no time. I climbed off. The slight breeze pushed the beautiful, red swing back and forth. I was overcome by a distant memory.

* * *

"Edward, what are you doing?" I asked, laughing as Edward raided the garage. He loaded the backpack with supplies for . . . whatever he was planning. I saw the top of a brush. Were we painting something?

He shook his head. "I said it's a surprise."

He opened up the cupboard behind his Volvo. Inside was a huge shopping bag, full of something. I frowned in confusion and irritation while Edward loaded the Volvo with all of his supplies.

He flashed a brilliant smile at me, shutting the trunk. "I'm ready. Get in the car."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "No," I said.

His brows pulled together. "No?"

"That's right. I'm not leaving until you tell me what we're doing," I said stubbornly. He groaned.

"Bella, this is a surprise. I can't tell you what we're doing. That would ruin the whole idea of a 'surprise.'"

I pouted. "Please? If you really love me, please tell me what we're doing. Pretty please?" I batted my eyelashes, hoping I was doing this right. I rarely acted like this.

He gulped. "Uh . . . I . . ." he shook his head. "No, this is a surprise." With that, he pulled me off the stool I was sitting on and dragged me into his Volvo.

"Stop it! You're kidnapping me! Edward!" I screamed.

He answered with a scowl. After putting on my seatbelts, he got on the car and drove out of the garage before I could take off my seatbelts and get off the car.

We drove in silence. I was pouting, and Edward was scowling. My anger and irritation was forgotten for a moment when he pulled the car to a stop in front of the forest where our meadow was hidden. I turned to look at him, but he was already out of the car and getting his supplies from the meadow. Suddenly, he disappeared right in front of my eyes, and I panicked. Where was he?

A few minutes later, just as I was about to drive back to the Cullens for help, he came back. His hair was even messier than usual from running, and his supplies were gone. Wordlessly, he crouched down in front of me. I climbed on, and he took off into the forest.

In no time at all, we were at the meadow. His supplies were in front of what was probably the sturdiest tree in this whole forest. I climbed off his back, and stared at him for an explanation. If he could feel my eyes on him, he didn't show it as he walked over to his bags. He first pulled out some paint, paint brushes, wood, a hammer, nails, and some other tools I couldn't name.

At last, he looked at me with a smile. I smiled back hesitantly. I still didn't know what we were going to do. For all I knew, we could be building a canoe.

"Er, what exactly are we building?" I asked.

"A swing."

I gaped at him. That was the most romantic thing we could be building for the two of us. I ran to him, smiling at his surprised expression. My arms wrapped themselves around his neck and my legs wrapped around his torso. My lips found his, and he fell back to the ground, smiling against my lips.

"So, would it be safe to assume that you aren't mad at me anymore?" he asked, pulling away.

"Yes," I smiled, pulling his lips to mine again.

* * *

I shook my head. It wouldn't help to think of our past right now. I was supposed to be ending this relationship once and for all, for crying out loud!

Edward was staring at me with a painful expression on his face. What had I done?

A trickle of something warm ran down my cheek. I lifted my hand to wipe the blood away, but I realized it wasn't blood. I realized I had been crying.

Sniffling, I turned away from his gaze and went to sit on the grass. He came to sit with me and handed me a hankerchief. I took it with a small "thank you" and wiped all the blood, tears, and snot from my face. Feeling slightly better, I turned to him, determined to get this over with.

"Edward," I started, but he closed my mouth with a finger.

"No, it's okay. You don't have to tell me that we'll still be able to be friends or some other nonsense like that. It won't make it any easier," he grimaced. I bit my lip. I hated seeing him in pain. I knew exactly what he was feeling. I had felt just like this when he had left me in the forest last September.

"Edward, I'm really sorry," I breathed.

He smiled at me bitterly. It wasn't the crooked grin I had fallen in love with. I looked away. "I'm really sorry, Edward. I would do anything keep you from this pain. I'm so sorry."

He lifted my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes. "Don't be. I don't blame you. Just remember I will always love you."

"Edward . . ." I said, but he silenced me by scooping me up in his arms. He sprinted off into the woods.

Before I knew it, we were at Jasper's car. He let me down next to the car, kissed my ckeek, and whispered, "I'll always love you." He was gone before I could say anything.

I got in the car, dropping my face into my hands. This had not gone very well. I had meant to end this relationship, but we were still kind of tied together. I was supposed to cut off that tie, but I had failed.

A sob wracked through my body, and then another. I didn't try to stop them.

I thought I saw a flash of white in the woods. I thought I could see a sad, agonized, painful face staring at me. I blinked through my tears, and it was gone.

* * *

**I will start typing up the epiloge. Oh yeah, please review!**


	15. Epilogue

_**(PLEASE READ!)**_

**Well, this is the last chapter of my first FanFiction! I apologize if you wanted me to make the story a bit longer, but honestly, I want to finish this story so I can write a better one. I have a few ideas for the next story. Go to my profile if you want to read the summary for the story I'll probably write next!**

**I know most authors on FanFiction write _long _author's notes at the end of their stories, but I really don't have the energy for that. I've been sick for the last three weeks in every way imaginable, and just got back from the hospital. So I'll just keep it short and simple: Thank you to all my readers who stuck with me until the end of my story. I hope to see you again in my next stories.**

**For the last time in this story, all the Twilight-y stuff belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

* * *

I heard my husband's car in the driveway and hurried to dress the two-year old in my arms.

"Honey, I'm home!" I rolled my eyes, grinning. He said that every single day when he got home. When I asked him about it, he said that it made him feel "husband-y." The little girl in my arms squealed when she heard her father's voice and squirmed, trying to twist out of my arms.

"Mommy, I wanna see Daddy," she whined when she found that she couldn't make me release her.

"Rosemary Black, you can't go downstairs without a shirt! What if the neighbors see you half-naked? Now hold still," I ordered in my stern, motherly voice.

"Why? Daddy doesn't wear shirts lots and lots of times," she reminded me. I scowled. Why was she so logical for a two-year-old?

"Jacob! Get up here and help me dress your daughter!" I yelled.

A moment later, Jacob appeared in the doorway of Rosemary's yellow room. He chuckled as I tried to pin the little girl down onto her bed and failed. I looked up when he chuckled, and Rosemary cleverly took advantage of my distraction. She twisted out of my arms when I was busy scowling at her father and climbed down from her bed and into her father's open arms.

Clutching his copper-skinned daughter to his chest with one arm, Jacob walked over to kiss me briefly. We tried our best to keep make-out sessions away from Rosemary's eyes. Leaning down to graze my left earlobe gently, he whispered, "_Our_ daughter, you mean." I shivered slightly and rolled my eyes when our little girl pulled on Jacob's long hair to claim his attention again.

"Daddy," she complained, continuing to pull on her father's hair. He had stopped cutting it along with his phasing a while after Rosemary's birth. He had told me that he didn't want to be too young for me, which was bound to happen if he kept phasing.

"Yes, Rosie?"

Rosemary scowled. "That's not my nickname. It's Riqi. And if you call me Rosie again, I will make you call me by my real name." I stared at her with wide eyes, amazed at how well she spoke. I guessed being around so many adults did have its advantages.

"I bet you can't even say your own name because it's so long," Jacob teased, pulling on a strand of her hair.

"Stop it," she snapped angrily. "And yes, I can. It's Rosemary Isabelle Qahla Black. And Mommy told me that Qahla means 'sun' in Quileute."

Jacob stared at her with wide eyes. I grinned at him. He didn't know I spent an hour teaching my daughter how to say her name after he had teased her about it a few days ago. I had also taught her everything I knew about her father's tribe and its language when she asked me about why we would give her a name as strange as "Qahla."

"But that is not what we were talking about. I'm mad because Mommy's making me wear this," she pointed her tiny finger at the shirt I had been trying to force her to wear. "You never wear shirts," she added, "and she gets happy red."

I blushed at that. "Happy red" Mommy meant pleased Mommy. "Angry red" Mommy meant exactly what it said, and "shy red" Mommy meant I was embarrassed. "See?" she pointed at me, and I got even redder.

Jacob smiled at his little princess lovingly. "Honey, I know you don't like clothes, but you can't show up at Grandpa and Grandma's house without a shirt. Your uncles - or at least one of your uncles - will tease you for days, and your aunties are going to play 'Rosemary Barbie' for hours and hours."

Rosemary, as I liked to call her along with the two important people she was named after, unlike everyone else who thought the name was too long, wrinkled her cute nose at that. I never been as proud of my daughter as the day my two best friends admitted that my baby enjoyed "Rosemary Barbie" almost as much as I liked "Bella Barbie."

They had tried to hide this from me, but when Rosemary came home in tears after a sleepover with her aunties, they had to spill. I had threatened to change my daughter's name if they did something like that to my daughter ever again, and I was pleased to see that my threat was very effective. They took pride in the fact that a wonderful girl like Rosemary was named after them, and to have that taken away would not make them happy.

"Fine," she huffed. She reached out towards me as I took her from her father to her bed. I put on the shirt as she mumbled about "annoying shirts."

I handed my daughter back to my husband. "I'll go and get ready. I won't take too long," I told him as I walked out of the room, picking up strays toys from the floor on the way.

I took a quick shower. Since it was warm outside, I put on a yellow sundress with floral prints, a brown jacket, and gladiator sandals. I let my hair down, but put on a brown, simple headband to keep the hair out of my face. I quickly applied some eyeliner, eye shadow, and lip gloss. As I checked my reflection in the mirror, I grinned. I had lost all the weight I had gained while I was pregnant with Rosemary. Jacob had insisted that I looked fine, but I had been stubborn, like always. It wasn't that I was ashamed of what little price I had to pay for my wonderful daughter. It was just that I wanted look my best for my husband.

I followed the sound of the high-pitched giggles and the deep chuckles into my daughter's room.

I would have bet every single penny I earned from writing my novels that my little family wouldn't have noticed me looking at them fondly if I hadn't laughed as Rosemary pulled on the hair of her wincing "horsie." They looked up, both smiling, Jacob in relief that I had diverted our daughter's attention before he became bald, and Rosemary in the happiness you could only feel when you were a small child with a loving family.

"Mommy!" Rosemary squealed, climbing off her dad and rushing into my open arms. I spun her around in my arms and kissed Jacob with a bit more enthusiasm than usual. He blinked.

A moment later, he smiled, wrapping his arms around my waist. "What was that for?" he whispered in my ear.

"For being such a good daddy," I whispered back. When I saw our daughter's face scrunch up at our whispered conversation, I raised my voice. "We should get going. Grandpa and Grandma will be waiting. Do you want to take a quick shower before we leave, Jake?"

He nodded, pecked my cheeks and Rosemary's, and disappeared down the hall. I balanced my baby on one arm and held up a stuffed wolf.

"Honey, you weren't going to forget Cully at home, were you?" I pretended to gasp in horror. Rosemary mimicked me, reaching for the doll she had named after the Cullens when she couldn't quite pronounce their names.

I walked downstairs with Rosemary in my arms. She giggled and squealed when I spun her around until I got dizzy before putting her down. She clung to my legs as I packed her overnight bag. She already had her own room at the mansion, but there were some things she had to bring back and forth, like Cully.

As I struggled to reach the overnight bag on the high shelf, a strong, broad hand beat me to it. I kissed my helper thank you, twisting out of his arms before it could become too heated. We had a two-year-old clinging to my legs. It wouldn't be right to do anything too explict, I repeated to myself as I walked away from my pouting husband with some difficulty.

We walked to the blue Chevy the Cullens had gotten for me along with numerous other expensive things for my twenty-second birthday. Jacob had helped me complain about the presents to make me happy, but when they brought up the word "car," he had ditched me, joining the Dark Side.

As Jacob put on Rosemary's seatbelts over the carseat I had recieved at the baby shower, planned by a celebration-loving pixie, I sulked in the front seat like I usually did when I got on the car. I missed my old truck, but it was in the back garage now. It had roared its last deafening roar three months ago. Jacob had said that the truck was just too old, but I thought he might have done something to it on purpose to make me drive the new car. I wrinkled my nose at the new-car smell.

We made it to the Cullens' mansion in no time, thanks to the new engine of my shiny car. Alice and Jasper were waiting for us at the door. Alice stole Rosemary from my arms the instant I got her off her carseat. She kissed and tickled her namesake as I rolled my eyes at Jasper. He grinned.

I pretended to be hurt, clutching my heart. "What about me? Am I not the best friend and sister you haven't seen for a whole two months?"

Alice shot me an apologetic look, cradling my baby carefully in her arms. "Bella, you know I missed you, too. It's just that I'm trying to get my share of Rosemary before-"

"Rosemary!"

I spun around, scowling. Was I that invisible next to my amazing daughter? I wasn't jealous, no, but I had really missed these people! Had they even thought about me during their two months in Alaska? Or was my daughter the only person on their minds?

Rosalie and Emmett walked down the wooden stairs into the driveway. "Alice, I need to see my namesake! Don't hog her," Rosalie snapped, taking my baby into her arms. She starting whispering things that made her giggle and squeal in delight.

"Bella!" Emmett gave me a bear-hug, knocking all the air out of me. I gasped, and Rosalie looked up from her namesake with narrowed eyes.

"Emmett, you promised to be gentle. You're hurting Bella. How will you control yourself when you're holding Rosemary?" she chastised.

Emmett dropped me instantly. "Sorry, Bella," he apologized, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Emmy!" Rosemary's small voice called. Emmett's face lit up, and he ran to her, holding his arms out. However, Rosalie wasn't giving her up that easily. This was why Jacob and I were okay with leaving our daughter in a house full of vampires overnight. Rosalie, Alice, and Esme would never let anything or anyone hurt my baby accidentally or intentionally. They would literally give up their lives before any harm came to my baby.

"Emmett, be careful. If you cause her any pain," her eyes narrowed dangerously, "you'll be banned from our room and me for a month. Again."

Emmett, eyes wide, nodded and went to stand next to Jasper. He shuddered as the two women held onto her, tickling and spinning her around. He was probably remembering the time Rosalie refused to talk to him, make skin contact, or let him into their room for a whole month because Rosemary had gotten a paper cut when Emmett was supposed to be watching her. I had been upset with him because he had probably been watching football or something while my daughter amused herself, but when I saw how angry Rosalie was, I decided not to punish him. So had Alice and Esme. Rosalie's punishment was good enough of all four of us.

"Bella! Rosemary! Jacob!" I heard Esme cry from the doorway of her home. I looked up to see her dragging Carlisle with her into the driveway. When she reached us, she gave Jacob and me a hug. I was grateful that she didn't wrinkle her nose at the stink we must be giving off to them. Then, she turned to her granddaughter with a huge smile.

"I'm relieved that you're finally here. Esme and all the other women in the family were driving us men up the wall with their fussing," Carlisle chuckled.

Jacob and I laughed, picturing what Carlisle was telling us. We had been told that this happened every time they waited for us. It must have been even worse since they hadn't seen us in so long. I looked around at my extended family. Everyone was in the driveway, playing with my baby or telling Jacob about Alaska. That was, everyone except Edward and Alyssa.

"Bella." Speak of the devil.

I turned to see Edward walking down the porch steps, his arms around his bride-to-be's waist.

It turned out that each vampire who found a human mate also had a vampire mate. This was very rare because almost all vampires who had a human mate drank their mate to death, unable to resist the call of their blood. Edward had been the one in a million (or more like a billion) who had been able to resist the call of their human mate and had two mates, Alyssa and me. He had found Alyssa about a year after I chose Jacob as he was traveling. I had been happy for them at first, but once I found out what kind of a person Alyssa was, I wasn't too accepting.

"Edward, Alyssa," I smiled at the two of them with a bit too much enthusiasm than neccessary. Thankfully, no one, not even Jacob, who had his arm around me, noticed.

"How have you been?"

I scowled. "Oh, forget the formalities. Get over here," I demanded, spinning out of Jacob's arm and wrapping my own around Edward's neck. A second later, he wrapped his arms around my waist hesitantly.

We pulled away a moment later, not wanting to cause our partners any more strain. I could picture Jacob smiling his fake, I-really-don't-mind smile in my head, and I could see Alyssa's stiff smile with my own eyes.

"Alyssa, how was your trip? Wasn't it your first time meeting the Denali clan?" I asked, trying to be civil.

"Oh, it was wonderful. It was quite difficult to keep the women away from _my_ Edward at first, but they backed off once we told them about our engagement. You should come with us next time. Of course, your _husband_ and _daughter_ are welcome too," she said.

The way she emphasized her words annoyed me. Could she be any more obvious about her irritaion toward me? Alice and Rosalie had told me that Andrea was a _darling_ when I wasn't around. I highly doubted that. No one could change _that_ much just because someone they hated was there.

Instead of saying rude and very mean things that would get me in trouble, I forced the ends of my lips to lift in a smile that probably looked more like a grimace. "Thanks for the invitation." I turned to Edward, who was looking at his fiancee and ex-girlfriend with a grimace. "Edward? Do you think you could drive me around the town in your new car? I'm the only one who hasn't gone somewhere on it."

Everyone stopped moving. Edward stared at me with wide eyes. "Now?"

I chuckled. I hoped no one noticed how it seemed a bit forced. "Yes, now. I actually like your car. It's fast, sleek, and _not mine_."

He scowled. "I can't believe you're still upset about the car. Be reasonable, Bella. Whining about it won't make it go away. Just accept the fact that you have a new, fast, sleek car from your loving family and move on."

I also scowled. "This isn't about my car. I just want to check out _your_ car. Let's go," I pulled on his arm, leading him to the garage. On my way, I blew kisses at Jacob and Rosemary and a smile for everyone but Alyssa, who narrowed her eyes at me.

I stopped at the new Porsche Edward had bought to add to his extra-special car collection. I slid in carefully, not wanting to damage anything with my clumsiness. I made more than enough money to support my family by writing my books and magazines, and Jacob made quite a lot for someone who had just graduated from college a few months ago in his automotive shop, but we would probably have to save up for years to pay Edward back if I destroyed his car.

Edward caught me wincing at a mental picture of his car driving straight into a tree thanks to the accidents that seemed to surround me like a bunch of angry bees surrounding a boy that had destroyed their hive, and raised his eyebrows. I shook my head and put my seatbelt on.

"Where to?" Edward asked, breaking the awkward silence.

I didn't hesitate. I had been planning this for a long time, and I wouldn't back out. "How about our meadow?"

Before he focused on the road, I saw a flash of surprise in his eyes. I didn't blame him. We hadn't been alone together for years. Going to the place where we had first kissed and shared so many memories together was not what I would have been expecting had I been in his place.

We were at edges of the forest in no time. He had ignored a few stop signs speed limit signs, no doubt trying to show off the speed of his new car. He got the door for me, just like he always did. Or always used to.

"Would you like to walk and make everyone worry or go the fast way?" Edward asked, a grin showing that he already knew the answer.

"The faster way. When I bought this sundress and these shoes, I didn't really picture myself hiking in them," I mumbled, looking down at my outfit.

He chuckled. Before he pulled me onto his back, he murmured, "I like your dress." I blushed as he ran silently through the forest.

It was midday, so the sun was shining through the thick trees and into our magical meadow. I noticed that the red paint of the swing looked like it had been repainted very recently as I sat down on it. Edward sat down next to me as I continued to look around the meadow. The ancient tree on which we had carved our names into was still there. I could feel his gaze burning a hole through my head, and I turned to meet his eyes. My eyes widened at the love that shone in his eyes. His eyes widened, too, as if he realized what I had noticed, and he looked away. I looked down at my hands.

"Edward?" I asked tentatively. He slowly met my eyes again. I was relieved to see that his eyes held no emotions. What I had come here to do wouldn't be easy to do if he was staring at me with such love. I changed my question at the last minute, too chicken to ask the question that had been gnawing at me ever since he met Alyssa. "Did you repaint the swing?"

"Yes. I noticed a few weeks ago that the wood was chipping off. I fixed it and repainted it," he answered emotionlessly.

I hesitated for a moment before asking another question. It wasn't the big question I had brought him here for, but it had been bothering me for a while also. "Has Alyssa been here?"

He blinked at me. "No," he answered at last. "She tried to follow me a few times, which led to fighting. She stopped after a while, but she gets mad everytime I come back home smelling like grass," he sighed.

I studied him. He didn't look like he was too happy being with Alyssa. But they had to be. They were getting married in just a few months. I took a deep breath. This is why we were here today. I couldn't back out . . . but I wouldn't be breaking the rules if I approached the subject slowly. "Edward, as you've probably guessed, I didn't ask you to 'drive me around town' just to admire your car. I've been meaning to tell you something for a while, but we were never alone."

It was his turn to study me this time. He read my face, catching every emotion that my eyes held. He nodded. "Yes, I guessed that you hadn't brought me out here just to admire my car."

"I'm not saying that your car isn't admirable - because it really is - and I -" I stopped myself, took a deep breath, and started again. "Edward, I need to ask you something."

"Yes?" His eyes were weary.

I closed my eyes. A moment later, I reopened them, and blurted out, "Are you happy with Alyssa?"

He blinked. He opened his mouth a few times, but nothing came out. I waited, unconsciously holding my breath. He opened his mouth again.

"Yes, I am."

I stared at him, looking into his eyes. His eyes told me that he wasn't lying. His voice had been sincere. Edward was happy with Alyssa. I blinked. "Well, that changes things," I mumbled to myself.

"You thought I wasn't happy?" Edward asked.

I shook my head.

"Well, honestly, I'm not really happy about the wedding. I love Alyssa and can't wait to marry her, but Alice is planning such a huge wedding, which is not what I wanted. There will be vampires from all over the world. They will all have to hunt before they come to the wedding, so many humans will die around the same time. This won't make the Volturi happy, and I don't ever want a visit from the Volturi. I'm only going along with it because Alyssa likes the idea of a big wedding."

I nodded. I remembered him telling me about the Volturi on that couch while we watched _Romeo and Juliet_ on my eighteenth birthday. The day everything had changed for me.

"You just didn't seem very happy lately. And Alyssa is so hard to get along with. I just thought your relationship wasn't working out very well," I said honetly and hesitantly. Now that I knew Edward was content with Alyssa, I didn't want to make him mad by insulting his mate.

Edward frowned. "Alyssa is a very kind and caring person, actually. But if the fact that Rosalie likes her doesn't convince you, I don't think anything I will say will convince you."

"Then why is she so disagreeable when I'm around?" I asked.

Edward looked down. I waited silently for him to gather up his thoughts. A few, tense minutes passed before Edward looked up. "Because she knows that I love you as much as I love her, which is not proper for a man who is getting married."

I gasped softly. I had been guessing at the answers - she didn't like humans, it was uncomfortable for her to be around a human all the time, the overbearing amount of attention the Cullens paid her during her visits made her envious - but she hadn't expected this. "What?"

Edward seemed to get confidence from my shock. He looked into my eyes and said in a firm voice, "I love you, Bella. I have never stopped loving you, despite what you and my family might have thought."

"Edward," I pleaded when I got over a second wave of shock, "you have to let go of me. You're getting married in a few weeks! I don't particularly like Alyssa, but no girl deserves to marry someone who loves a past girlfriend, not even her. Please, Edward. Let go." I stared at him, begging with my eyes.

I knew I was being a hypocrite. I had married Jacob and even had a child with him when I still had a small amount of romantic feelings left for him. But I needed him to let go if I wanted to let go completely. I felt bad for using him, but we both needed this.

Edward looked away, but not before I saw a flash of resignation in his eyes. "I will always love you no matter what. You're my _la tua cantante_, my singer, my human mate. But I understand what you're saying, and I have to agree with you. Alyssa doesn't deserved to be love only with half the love I am capable of showing her and giving her. I think I'll be able to give her the love I've been reserving for you these last few years."

I grabbed one of his hands in my own. He looked up, shocked. We hadn't had any form of physical contact since that day when I chose Jacob over him. I refused to think of the pain I had seen in his eyes that day. It was all over now.

"Thank you, Edward. We both needed this closure, and Alyssa might be nicer to me now that you love her completely," I smiled.

"Maybe," he smiled, too, but his smile seemed a bit tired. Letting go of the person you have been loving with half of your heart for a years and with a full heart for a few years before that couldn't be easy.

I got up, pulling him up with me. Then I gave him a tight hug. He stiffened for a moment, but relaxed once he noticed what I noticed. This embrace wasn't one shared by two lovers. This was an embrace of sister and brother. I smiled, resting my head on his shoulder. Every thing was perfect now. The loose ends had been tied up, and the old memories were no longer choking us. We could look back at our time together without feeling as awkward and uncomfortable.

The only problem I saw now was explaining to the family why we had each others' scents all over each other. I winced. I was not looking forward to that.

* * *

Fortunately, Rosalie listened to what Edward and I were saying, and rose to defend us against our family's accusing looks.

After we talked on the day I chose Jacob over Edward, I had discovered that Rosalie only disliked me because she thought Edward and I weren't meant to be together and because she wanted me to stay human. When she found out that I wouldn't be doing anything to make her dislike me, she had turned into one of the best sisters in the world.

Esme and Carlisle were the next ones to tell us that they believed us. Alice and Jasper believed us also, but Alice looked a bit regretful. I knew she had wanted me to become a Cullen one day. Emmett didn't really care, as long as he had something to tease us about, and I knew this incident would be retold over and over until Edward wrestled him to the floor or something.

The sad thing was that neither Jacob nor Alyssa seemed to believe that the scents had been exchanged when we exchanged a friendly, brother-and-sisterly hug. Edward dragged Alyssa to his bedroom probably to explain privately and maybe make up to her. Jacob and I said our goodbyes to the Cullens and our baby soon after they disappeared. I wanted to explain exactly what happened to Jacob.

After telling him every detail of what happened after Edward and I took off in his new car, I looked at Jacob, pleading with my eyes for him to answer. He looked at me with guarded eyes.

"Why did you never tell me that you still had some feelings for him? I thought you had gotten over him _completely_ a long time ago."

"Jacob, I'm your first love, right? There were no serious girlfriends before me?"

He nodded, staring at me warily. I could almost read his mind right now: What does that have to do with anything?

"Then you can't understand what it's like to have a first love that doesn't work out. I'm not saying that I don't like being your first love," I backtracked under his unhappy gaze. "All I'm saying is that you can't understand how first loves leave an imprint on the person that will probably always be there. It doesn't mean they will love that person for the rest of their lives. It just means that your first love will be the most difficult to let go."

"So I have to share you with him for the rest of my life?"

I sighed. "Haven't you been listening? I let go of him today, Jacob! We love each other, but not in a romantic way. More like in a way I somehow love Emmett."

Jacob's face had been expressionless until now. Slowly, a smile crept up his face. "So, you're all mine now?"

I laughed at his childish way of putting that. "Yes, I am."

Jacob lifted me off the sofa we had been sitting on as we talked, and kissed me on my lips passionately. I smiled against his lips. We rarely did this anymore because of our baby, and it was nice to be able to do what normal young couples did without fearing that our baby would accidentally catch us.

We eventually broke away because of Jacob's growling stomach. He mumbled to himself, annoyed that he had ruined the moment. I laughed as I went to make him some dinner.

* * *

"Jacob? What's the movie Quil wanted to see?" I yelled downstairs.

"_Cold Blood_!"

I paused. "I don't think I'll be watching that movie! It doesn't sound like a movie I would enjoy!"

I could almost see Jacob scrunching up his eyebrows as he searched his brain for a movie we could watch without Quil complaining about how boring it was.

I thought Jacob had given up trying to find a movie I would be able to watch without puking when he suggested _Third Chances_, a sequel to _Second Chances_. I stopped putting away Rosemary's toys. I could see my horrified expression in her fake mirror.

"You know what? I think it's time that I got over my inability to look at blook without puking. Let's go see _Cold Blood._"

* * *

**The ending's kinda wierd.. Anyway, please review!**


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